Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) said Thursday he can’t guarantee President Trump’s proposed tariffs won’t drive up prices for consumers but commended Trump for trying something new to boost the economy.
Davidson, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, appeared on “CNN News Central” where host Brianna Keilar pressed him to assure U.S. voters in the Buckeye State that there would not be a price hike related to the additional taxes the Trump administration intends to put on imported goods from places such as Canada, Mexico and China.
“Well, I can’t guarantee that,” Davidson said in his Thursday remarks, highlighted by Mediaite. “But I know that’s not the intent, and I believe that the policies have a better chance to work than a disastrous ignore what China’s doing and keep trading with them.”
“That hasn’t worked. So why wouldn’t we try something different?” he added.
Trump on Thursday signaled that the U.S. would implement reciprocal tariffs on countries that choose to tax American products, following his earlier decision Monday to impose a 25 percent tariff on all imported steel and aluminum.
Davidson’s comments come after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) expressed “big, lingering concerns” with Trump’s latest moves in an op-ed for the Courier Journal.
“While the administration walked back plans to levy 25% duties on imports from Mexico and Canada — paused now for 30 days as both nations brokered deals to tighten border security and crack down on illegal drugs — the president’s aggressive proposals leave big, lingering concerns for American industry and workers,” McConnell wrote.
“Indeed, it’s high time for America’s closest neighbors to take the crisis at our border seriously. But no matter our best intentions, tariffs are bad policy,” he added.
The president has consistently advocated for tariffs in order to correct trade deficits — but these often lead to increased costs for consumers as importers tag on extra fees to mitigate the additional taxes.
“I think what’s going to go up is jobs are going to go up, and prices could go up somewhat short term, but prices will also go down,” Trump told reporters, referring to the additional tax on the imported metals. “Long term, it’s going to make our country a fortune.”
Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation (NRF) also warned that higher prices will soon hit Americans as Trump signs off on reciprocal tariffs on foreign trading partners.
“While we support the president’s efforts to reduce trade barriers and imbalances, this scale of undertaking is massive and will be extremely disruptive to our supply chains,” David French, NRF’s executive vice president of government relations, said in a statement.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has also warned of the potential blowback on consumer’s ability to buy foreign goods once the president implements his tariff plan — which could go into effect as early as April 2.
