The White House and its GOP allies on Thursday dismissed the six defections over President Donald Trump’s Canada tariffs as a political stunt, insisting the rebellion has peaked.
But privately some Republicans remain anxious about a tariff policy that has injected uncertainty into a shaky economy. It’s a far cry, they say, from the booming one President Donald Trump promised, one that was supposed to be supercharged by tax cuts and deregulations that Republicans would be eager to run on. They fear that the administration has not done enough to sell the president’s top economic priority to the American people as an unalloyed good.
And while the White House points to a robust GDP, booming stock market and relatively low unemployment, the tariffs are applying direct pain on select constituencies such as farmers or small business owners whose fortunes can make the difference in a close election.
«Tariffs are such an important factor in our lives in the country, what’s happening in the economy,” said one senior Republican lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak candidly. And, he added, lawmakers are “uneasy” about an administration that is so certain Trump is right.
The House on Wednesday voted to block the president’s 25 percent tariffs on Canada, with six Republicans crossing party lines to approve the resolution, a pointed and unusual rebuke of the president. Democrats hope to push Republicans to take a series of votes on tariffs in the coming weeks, forcing the GOP to again and again choose to side with a politically unpopular policy or risk crossing a notoriously vindictive president on one of his signature issues.
So far, Republicans seem more worried about the latter.
“He threatened them,” said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist, when asked why so few GOP lawmakers defected on Wednesday night. “That’s it. That’s always it.”
Still, Republicans have been forced to acknowledge the tariff impact in their districts and states, even as they project optimism.
Senators like Missouri’s Josh Hawley, North Carolina’s Thom Tillis and Iowa’s Chuck Grassley, for example, have complained about the downstream effects on farmers, a linchpin of the Republican base, who have been rocked by the trade war, losing export markets as they’re forced to pay higher prices for things like machinery. Small businesses have struggled amid frequently changing tariff rates, and have often had to swallow the cost of the duties. And consumers, who have consistently told pollsters that affordability is a top concern, are seeing the tariff costs trickle down into products like clothing, furniture and toys.
«People think tariffs are costing them,” said Karl Rove, a veteran Republican strategist. “I know the economists have an argument about that, and I know that it’s not a one-to-one ratio, but what people believe is that tariffs are keeping up the cost of some of the goods.»
The White House has been quick to tout signs of a resilient economy, thumbing its nose at economists who projected that tariffs would significantly accelerate inflation. Instead, the spike was not as large as feared. While inflation had been rising since last summer, in part due to higher costs from tariffs, it has ticked down in the past few months.
“A lot of these votes are going to be fun symbolism for Democrats and fun conversation pieces in the Beltway press, but ultimately they have zero policy impact,” said one White House official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the administration’s thinking. “We just encourage folks to stick with the president and stick with the plan, and look at all the deals that have been done and all the deals going forward.”