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Now that President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have become reality, Republican lawmakers are bristling — and expecting a flurry of requests for exemptions.
Many in the GOP had gone along with Trump’s tariff talk when it was hypothetical, but his new 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico caused alarm and resignation on the Hill on Tuesday, as Republicans warned of rising costs and economic harm.
Asked what he thought of the tariffs, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson deadpanned: “What does the stock market think of them? That tells you something.”
“The White House explanation that we were given is all about stopping the drug flow. I don’t know what he’s expecting Mexico and Canada to do. I think both countries could do a lot more, but I also know that we interdict just a fraction of what gets in here,” Johnson told Semafor. “I do know the harm it’s going to cause the economy, and the stock market is showing it.”
US markets declined for a second straight day as Trump’s new levies on Mexico, Canada and China took effect. While some conservatives are defending his administration’s rationale for squeezing trading partners that Trump sees as taking advantage of the US, the consequences for the president’s party could be steep: If a prolonged trade war spikes prices, Republicans’ much-touted tax cut package may have far less impact.
The White House is offering mixed messages in defense of the tariffs. Peter Navarro, Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, argued that they represented America “defending” itself amid a fentanyl crisis. Trump counselor Alina Habba, meanwhile, pointed to unfair trade tactics as the reason during a brief conversation with reporters.
But even as Navarro has blamed the Biden administration for persistent inflation — while saying the economy “is in good shape” because of Trump — clear worries persist.
Trump will have the chance to address those concerns during a joint address to Congress on Tuesday night. One arcane but important wrinkle is that businesses hit by the tariffs are expected to flood the administration, and Republican lawmakers, with requests for waivers from them.
Asked if he was happy with the tariffs, free-trader Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, responded: “You know my philosophy, so I don’t have to answer that question.”
“I’m sure that offices are going to be hit with a lot of requests for waivers, but it’s just that you can’t draw any conclusions now,” Grassley said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he hopes the tariffs are temporary because “nothing happens in a vacuum. There’s always a reaction to actions that are taken.”
And Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, aired similar hopes that the tariffs are “short-lived,” while underscoring his agreement with the Trump administration’s border security priorities.
Trump has made progress cutting the number of illegal crossings on the southern US border, in part because his first round of tariff threats led to an increased military presence from Mexico.
“President Trump has generally been using them as a tool in the toolbox to effectuate a positive outcome. Where it’s been used elsewhere so far, it seems to have worked — the threat, that is,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.
As for the actual imposition of the tariffs, he added, “We’ll have to see what the economic response is to determine whether it was a smart play or not.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told Semafor that “if I were” Canada and Mexico, “I’d be asking the question … ‘What more do you want from us?’”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Know More
Quite a few Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, were unruffled by the tariffs’ potential impact on Tuesday.
Part of the reason for that quieter pushback: Trump’s 10-year war on party orthodoxy means that there are simply fewer free-traders left in office to complain during his second term.
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who was elected in 2020, said “America has been taking it in the shorts” and that he can get behind tariffs in response.
But Nehls also said that he supported private-sector efforts to seek waivers exempting certain products. One example: employers who visited his district office to talk about sourcing the cranes that lift cargo containers along the Houston Ship Channel.
“These cranes are made in China; I don’t think there’s an American company that makes them,” Nehls said. “We can talk to President Trump and his team about some of the second- and third- order effects of some of these tariffs.”
He’s not alone. Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said every conversation he has with the administration on tariffs is about relief for small businesses. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said he expected requests for tariff exemptions covering products that aren’t even produced in the US, like the cranes in Nehls’ district.
The View From Democrats
As Congress sits inert, Democrats are growing irate at what they see as an unforgivable failure by Hill Republicans to check the executive branch.
They want their GOP colleagues to invite Trump administration officials to testify about the tariff strategy and are frustrated that hasn’t happened.
“I’m trying not to be unduly vitriolic, but why the hell isn’t Congress asking these questions? Why can’t we get a single Republican to say, ‘Let’s subpoena the people. If you claim you have a strategy, come and tell us what that strategy is,’” Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., said. “Do your job.”
Burgess, Eleanor and Shelby’s View
Trump won a second term in part thanks to his perceived advantage in handling the economy and lowering prices. He clearly sees tariffs as a negotiating tool to get concessions from other countries on issues like border control.
If the new tariffs stay in effect too long, however, prices could rise and cut into any other economic gains made during Trump’s presidency.
Like his standoff with Ukraine, Republican lawmakers are largely trusting Trump’s acumen given his track record of using tariffs as a bargaining tactic. If the tariffs persist, perhaps Republicans will reach their limits. But despite their alarm on Tuesday, that hasn’t happened yet.
“I’m literally trying to give him the room that he needs to be able to finish the negotiation, just knowing from history what he’s trying to be able to accomplish,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Room for Disagreement
Particularly optimistic Republicans are not only unconvinced that the tariffs will cause economic pain — they also expect that affected companies will absorb the higher costs instead of raising their prices.
Some GOP lawmakers even see Trump’s first round of tariffs as proof that the inflationary risk posed by the tariffs isn’t real, pointing to the effect of his first-term tariffs on a narrower swath of imports.
“Everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s going to be inflation’ — there was none,” Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., said. “There will be a soft landing.”
Trump himself argues that tariffs will ultimately benefit the US by forcing companies to bring manufacturing back home, as well; that could take years.
Notable
- As much as Trump’s tariffs worry Republican lawmakers, they may not use their power to stop him, Burgess reported back in September.
- Mexico, Canada and China are already responding with retaliatory tariffs on US goods, per the Associated Press.