‘No one wins a trade war’: Kaine, Beyer respond to Trump’s tariff threat

You voted for tariffs, White America, and President-elect Donald Trump is pledging to deliver on his promise, announcing Monday his plans for 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.

In response, Claudia Sheinbaum, the new president of Mexico, signaled on Tuesday that her country is willing to respond in kind, saying “one tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on, until we put at risk common businesses,” referring to U.S. automakers who have factories on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“It is unacceptable and would cause inflation and job losses in Mexico and the United States,” Sheinbaum said.

“If tariffs go up, who will it hurt? General Motors,” Sheinbaum said.

Oh, goodie.

Looks like the trade war that economists had forecast would result from Trump’s tariff threats during the 2024 election cycle is about to become a reality.

“No one wins a trade war,” said Virginia Congressman Don Beyer, D-8th, who serves on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade. “If imposed, these tariffs will lead to retaliation by both Canada and Mexico, two of our biggest trade partners, which would throw our deeply integrated economies into chaos and potentially lead us into a recession.”

The analyses of the impact had in the area of a million jobs in the U.S. being at risk, and higher prices for everyday goods for American families in the range of $4,000 a year.

Inflation, which had largely eased in the past few months, is supposedly why a large swath of White Americans sided with Trump, who they viewed as being “better on the economy.”

You guys are about to find out otherwise.

“The Trump tariffs during his first administration hurt Virginians, especially farmers. Now is the time to build on the progress we’ve made toward lower costs, including for life-saving prescription drugs – not launch ill-advised trade wars that will sky-rocket prices for hardworking Americans,” U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said.