Minnesota's Republican Congressional members are responding to the Trump Administration's decision to implement sweeping 10% tariffs on all imports to the U.S. While House Republicans have the power to stop, or slow down, the administration's tariffs, almost none seem interested or willing to take on the president.
Since the move, stocks have been plummeting in the U.S. and sending Wall Street reeling on the uncertain economic news. It's also likely to lead to higher inflation and slower growth, according to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Wall Street investors, meanwhile, now expect five interest rate cuts this year, a number that has increased since the tariffs were announced Wednesday.
Minnesota Sixth District Congressman Tom Emmer responded to the decision during a town hall meeting with praise. Emmer - who is also the House Majority Whip - said that the stock market disruptions will "eventually straighten themselves out."
In a statement provided to WCCO Radio, Eighth District Rep. Pete Stauber said that he supports the President’s efforts to level the playing field.
“For too long, America has been taken advantage of by other countries who have placed high tariffs on our goods and flooded our markets with their cheap products," Stauber says. "This has sidelined American workers and hollowed out our manufacturing sector. I support and trust the President’s efforts to level the playing field, bring jobs and manufacturing back to America, and rebuild the broken economy that Biden left behind. I know American workers, farmers, manufacturers, and miners can compete with anyone in the world as long as there is a fair and level playing field. It’s time to put America first again.”
Likewise, First District Rep. Brad Finstad said President Trump is using tariff negotiations strategically.
“This President is different than what we’ve seen in modern history with regard to using tariffs as a tool to hold our trading partners accountable and bring them to the negotiating table," says Finstad. "We have to take trade, especially agricultural trade, seriously. President Trump is using tariff negotiations strategically, in a way that will prioritize the American workforce, reshore our critical national security needs, and expand marketing opportunities for our southern Minnesota farmers.”
Seventh District Rep. Michelle Fischbach has not responded to WCCO's request for a comment.
All of Minnesota's Democratic Representatives have been extremely critical of the president's decisions as has Governor Tim Walz, and U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.
In fact, Klobuchar has signed on to a bipartisan bill that would place limits on President Trump's ability to impose tariffs without the approval of Congress. The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) — both members of the Senate Finance Committee.
"And the chaos doesn't end with economics," Klobuchar said on the Senate floor Friday afternoon. "President Trump is invoking emergency powers to bypass Congress and launch trade wars. Stand up, I say to our colleagues, stand up and assert your power. This is a dangerous abuse of authority that undermines the Constitution and threatens our system of checks and balances."
The goal of the Trade Review Act is to restore congressional oversight over Presidential tariffs and bring "stability and accountability to U.S. trade policy."
Global markets cratered the day after the announcement and then fell further when China announced it would retaliate with tariffs equal to the ones the U.S. is imposing.
In announcing what he has called reciprocal tariffs, Trump was fulfilling a key campaign promise by raising U.S. taxes on foreign goods to narrow the gap with the tariffs the White House says other countries unfairly impose on U.S. products.
Trump's higher rates would hit foreign entities that sell more goods to the United States than they buy. But economists don’t share Trump’s enthusiasm for tariffs since they’re a tax on importers that usually get passed on to consumers. It’s possible, however, that the reciprocal tariffs could bring other countries to the table and get them to lower their own import taxes.