Terminating the National Emergency Declared to Impose Duties on Articles Imported From Canada
Floor Speech
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Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for this resolution, and, indeed, the full series of tariff resolutions my colleagues Senators Kaine and Wyden and others have put forth. And I want to take this opportunity to personally commend Senator Kaine for his leadership and for his understanding of the complexities of the issues we face.
Our resolution would overturn President Trump's tariff taxes on American consumers. These tariffs are part of the President's effort to use trade policies to benefit his friends and himself at the expense of American families.
He has used trade to prop up Argentina's President before a key election because that country's President has said nice things about President Trump, hardly the basis for a fundamental economic decision affecting the life of every American.
And he has used trade to punish the entire country of Brazil for the prosecution of its former leader, another friend and political ally of Trump.
These are not economically based decisions. These are purely personal, whimsical decisions that harm American families.
The hope is that any Chief Executive is going to look thoughtfully and rationally, measure benefits and costs, and make decisions that benefit this country. That is not the case with President Trump.
And while he is cutting these special-interest trade deals, President Trump is really whacking households with more than $15 billion in additional costs each month. This includes the tariffs on Brazil, one of the main sources of coffee for the United States of America. And, you know, we are just waiting for our constituents to roll up to their Dunkin Donuts, if you are in Rhode Island, and order a small coffee: That will be $15, please.
That is where we are headed. And it is going to hurt our constituents, particularly the most vulnerable, and working families that are struggling to get by.
Grocery prices continue to climb with essentials like coffee and beef, with a 19-percent increase and 15 percent increase, respectively, more expensive than they were a year ago.
The average new car price just crossed $50,000 for the first time in our Nation's history. Investment bank UBS reports that tariffs have increased home construction costs by $9,000, and we have an affordable housing crisis in the United States in every State.
And Ashley Furniture, the largest U.S. and, indeed, global furniture manufacturer, announced this month it was raising prices by as much as 12 percent due to the President's tariffs, and that was before new 25- percent furniture-specific tariff came into force.
In total, researchers at Yale report that tariffs are costing families $1,800 this year. The President has essentially claimed these costs are a figment of our imagination, repeatedly claiming that foreign companies--not Americans--pay his tariffs. But his claims don't match Americans' reality or the economic data.
A recent Goldman Sachs report found that foreign exporters have been paying only about 9 percent of tariff costs.
In fact, Goldman, the nonprofit Peterson Institute, and investment bank Morgan Stanley have all reported that most of the President's tariffs are being absorbed by American companies, small businesses, and consumers.
Indeed, our Nation's two largest auto manufacturers, General Motors and Ford, have each reported billions of dollars in new tariff-related costs. Nike told its investors it will pay $1.5 billion in tariff costs this fiscal year, and defense manufacturer Raytheon announced $220 million in tariff costs in the third quarter alone.
Make no mistake, businesses, large and small, in every corner of our country, are paying these costs but with much tighter margins--much, much tighter margins--than previously.
Many of the Main Street businesses may not survive because of it. And, increasingly, companies are passing the costs of these tariff taxes on to American consumers. It is not just higher costs. When companies shoulder new costs, they hire fewer workers. And we are seeing that in many parts of the country. We are seeing it in Rhode Island.
Unsurprisingly, job growth, as a result, has stagnated under President Trump. Payroll company ADP found the private sector actually lost 32,000 jobs last month, while those Yale researchers estimate that Trump tariffs will eliminate half a million jobs this year.
It used to be the chief responsibility of the President of the United States to create economic programs and policies that stimulated employment--not eliminated employment.
And while President Trump wants to demonize any dissent toward his policies as political or the work of his enemies, data and economic warnings around his tariffs are coming from every corner of our country.
I will close by noting that I do not want to be on the floor delivering this speech. I do not want to have to criticize the President for his economic decision making, but instead of pursuing thoughtful, impactful, and cost-reducing policies, President Trump has decided to take a whack at American small business and families with billions and billions in new costs.
And as a Member of the Senate, I cannot sit by quietly while our President makes Americans suffer simply because their needs do not match his priorities.
I was hopeful that President Trump would come to his senses before Congress and the courts act, but he has not, and that is why we are on the floor. And that is why we must pass this resolution, which is one of the first steps to eliminating these Trump-induced costs on households and businesses.
Passage today would signal to Americans that Congress's priority is their financial well-being, not the well-being of the wealthy, the well-connected, and Donald Trump's personal pals.
Most importantly, it would start the process of eliminating over $15 billion in new monthly costs for families.
I urge my colleagues to prioritize hard-working Americans, not Donald Trump and friends, by passing this resolution.
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