Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Wednesday pushed back against President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs, telling reporters that "almost every industry in Kentucky has come to me and said, 'It will hurt our industry and push up prices of homes, cars.'"
"I'm going to continue to argue against tariffs," Paul said. "I hope they will not go into place, and I hope they won't force a recession, but already they're talking about exemptions because even the people for them realize there are real problems with tariffs."
Trump on Feb. 1 signed executive orders on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. Since then, he retreated on some measures only to later reaffirm them and back off again.
Trump sees tariffs as a way to increase the country's revenue and boost growth as well as a negotiating tool with other countries, but investors fear the trade policies may weaken consumer confidence and freeze companies' capital spending.
Other GOP senators are also concerned about the tariffs.
"When we start losing, you back off. There's such a thing as strategic retreat," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told CNN on Thursday. "At the end of the day, I think we have more leverage than any other nation. But we gotta be smart. And we don't have all the leverage."
Added Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.: "I'm worried about the tariffs. I'm not saying that tariffs are going to cause inflation. President Trump did them in his first term and they didn't. I'm saying that we just don't know. We're in very obscure territory. We're in uncharted waters. I think if the tariffs do start to cause inflation, I think the president will back away from them."
Kennedy continued: "If this starts causing inflation, we're gonna have to recalibrate."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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