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Tariffs (Executive Session)

Speaker
W000437
Subject
W000437
Source
Congressional Record · original
Chamber
senate
Published
Monday, March 31, 2025

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Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025)] [Senate] [Page S1919] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] Tariffs Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this week, Donald Trump is preparing to take a sledgehammer to the American economy by preparing a tsunami of tariffs on all sorts of goods Americans purchase every day--a tsunami of tariffs. Let's be clear. Donald Trump's tariffs are a tax hike on American families. The average costs families will have to pay for groceries, gas, everyday goods, et cetera, will go up by thousands--thousands of dollars a year out of hard-working people's pockets to pay for these tariffs. And Donald Trump has the gall to cal…

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Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025)] [Senate] [Page S1919] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] Tariffs Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this week, Donald Trump is preparing to take a sledgehammer to the American economy by preparing a tsunami of tariffs on all sorts of goods Americans purchase every day--a tsunami of tariffs. Let's be clear. Donald Trump's tariffs are a tax hike on American families. The average costs families will have to pay for groceries, gas, everyday goods, et cetera, will go up by thousands--thousands of dollars a year out of hard-working people's pockets to pay for these tariffs. And Donald Trump has the gall to call his trade war ``Liberation Day.'' That makes as much sense as calling a layoff notice a promotion letter. The Trump administration clearly has no strategy or goal behind their tariffs. One minute, they say the tariffs will lead to more people buying American-made goods, but Peter Navarro said yesterday that tariffs will also raise trillions in revenue. This is a total contradiction. You can't use tariffs to both raise revenue and bring jobs back. The only way you raise that much in revenue is if Americans pay that much for goods made abroad, and that means consumers will hurt most. Donald Trump knows his plan will send costs surging. He said he ``hopes'' automakers raise their prices--spoken like a true billionaire. Donald Trump saying, I hope automakers will raise their prices? OK, Mr. and Mrs. Consumer, Mr. and Mrs. Average American Family, Donald Trump wants you to pay more while he is giving tax cuts to billionaires. Senate Republicans--where are they? Always, they just go along with whatever Trump wants no matter how idiotic. Senate Republicans should be shouting from the rooftops to get the President to reverse course on tariffs. People in red States will be especially impacted, from farmers to small businesses. Republicans should be swarming the Senate floor with statements calling on the President to change his mind. But their response has been so feeble, so weak--almost nonexistent--that Americans are right to question which side they are really on. The worst part is that nobody knows what the tariffs will look like-- perhaps not even Donald Trump. On a slow day, he changes his mind about them only once a day. He seems to change his mind about them almost every hour. This is not what the American people want. Americans and American businesses detest the chaos and unpredictability that Trump brings. No surprise--more and more Americans now disprove of his handling of the economy. Meanwhile, the S&P is on track for its worst quarter compared to the rest of the world since the 1980s. Consumer confidence is at its worst since Donald Trump's first term. Outlook for the economy is at a 12-year low. Household debt is on the rise. Donald Trump's trade war is playing Russian roulette with the American economy, and it will be households, retirees, consumers, and average families that pay the price. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Curtis). Without objection, it is so ordered.

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