[Pages S2486-S2487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Tariffs

  Mr. President, on a separate topic, I want to address the Trump 
tariff tax--Trump tariff tax. It started this week. It is already 
changing not only the economy of the United States but the world. It 
has been a reckless undertaking, creating pure chaos.
  I received a phone call yesterday from a business leader. I won't 
identify him, but he was desperate. He said to me: President Trump and 
his people don't understand a supply chain. I am not selling T-shirts, 
he said. I am selling sophisticated products that require chemicals and 
electronics that are rare to find. And, sadly, some of the minerals 
which are desperately needed in my production effort are virtually 
controlled by China.
  Well, naturally, with the battle over the tariffs underway, China has 
decided to cut off American manufacturers from the availability of 
those critical chemicals, and that means restraining the production in 
the United States of some very important and worthwhile products.
  He said to me: What am I supposed to do?
  I said: I don't know.
  I don't know if anybody in this administration has thought through 
what they have started.
  We clearly may reach a point soon--and I hope it happens--where 
Donald Trump says: Fine, I want to declare victory. We are going to 
reverse course. It is going to be business as usual between the United 
States and the world.
  I think it is highly unlikely that he will do it, but anything is 
possible with this man.
  This much I do know: The damage Donald Trump has done to the 
international reputation of the United States is immeasurable. You see 
the leaders in these countries and what they are saying. They thought 
that they were close friends and allies of the United States, and now 
they appear to be adversaries, and there is a strategy underway to 
punish them.
  Canada, for goodness' sake? Is that what the last election was 
about--our relationship with Canada? I consider Canada not only a good 
neighbor but a great neighbor, an ally of the United States, a partner 
of the United States, over and over again, when we have engaged in 
conflict. And to say now that we are virtually in an economic war with 
Canada is unimaginable. What is going on with this administration?
  And, of course, there are many other countries as well.
  The European Union will never be the same in terms of its 
relationship with the United States. And I can't blame them at all. 
They are basically saying: We cannot trust the United States' 
leadership, if Donald Trump can do this to us, in a matter of weeks, as 
the new President of the United States.
  We have seen the tariff in China go from 34 percent to 104 percent, 
and the Chinese are going to make us pay for that, as they have 
promised they would.

  I am not surprised. If the shoe were on the other foot, that is 
exactly what

[[Page S2487]]

we would be saying too: You can't push us around. We are a sovereign 
nation.
  So what is the difference here between making a speech on the floor 
of the Senate and actually doing something to impact this tariff war 
that Donald Trump has started? The difference is four--four Members of 
the U.S. Senate on the Republican side.
  If any four will step forward and say: Enough. We have a 
constitutional opportunity and responsibility when it comes to tariffs 
and our dealings with foreign countries, and we, as four Republicans, 
will join with the Democrats in engaging in a bipartisan discussion 
over how to go forward from here. If they don't step up--if four 
Republicans don't step up--then Donald Trump will continue this tariff 
war at the expense of American businesses and American workers and 
American taxpayers and our reputation in the world. That much is at 
stake.
  Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley law, which imposed tariffs on 
the world in June of 1930, and then President Hoover went fishing. 
President Trump signed off on these massive tariffs and went on to play 
golf at Mar-a-Lago. I don't get it.
  This is the most serious economic and trade situation we have faced 
in modern times. Businesses are desperate looking around at how to 
resolve this in a fashion to keep themselves in business and to employ 
critical employees. This is the moment when we should be gathering 
together and talking about, specifically, where we are headed. But the 
best I can tell is that we are putting at risk our constancy, our 
reliability, and the trust of nations all around the world because of 
this undertaking.
  If the President Trump tariff tax continues unabated, it is going to 
destroy this economy--period, end of quote. We are dealing with many 
people who feel that we are already in a recession or headed to one 
quickly.
  Will there be four Republicans who will step up and say: Stop. We 
cannot do this without some thoughtful consideration of what impact it 
is going to have on our economy?
  If four of them will step up in the House and four in the Senate, we 
can make history together on a bipartisan basis and come up with 
something that is thoughtful and avoids this terrible chaos and the 
reckless conduct of this administration to date.
  President Trump has played many roles in his career. He played a 
billionaire real estate mogul on the hot, hit reality show ``The 
Apprentice.'' On January 6, 2021, he played a cheerleader, ramping up 
an angry mob of insurrectionists to storm the U.S. Capitol. But his 
latest role may be the most outlandish. He calls himself a doctor.
  On Thursday, after the President's so-called ``Liberation Day'' of 
tariffs, he took to social media to announce to the world:

       THE OPERATION IS OVER! THE PATIENT LIVED, AND IS HEALING. 
     THE PROGNOSIS IS THAT THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, 
     BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE.

  That was reported by the President after his so so-called 
``Liberation Day'' of tariffs.
  The ``operation'' in his twisted metaphor, of course, was Trump's 
tariff tax, a 10-percent tariff on imports from almost every nation in 
the world, and the ``patient'' is supposed to be the U.S. economy.
  If this is Dr. Trump's idea of a successful operation, he should be 
sued for medical malpractice. He is playing a dangerous game and, this 
Trump tariff-tax gambit could push our country into a desperate 
recession.
  Small businesses in Illinois--and large ones as well--have reached 
out to our office, concerned that the uncertainty brought on by this 
administration could leave them no other choice but to cut jobs due to 
increased costs. Some have even said their businesses would go under 
due to these tariffs--their life's work rendered to nothing.
  Nobody knows what this administration wants to get out of these 
tariffs. They have yet to specify what they want from other countries. 
And why would any country want to do business with the United States 
again if trade agreements can be violated so willfully?
  After threatening a 34-percent tariff on China, Trump raised it to 
104 percent. And just this morning, China announced a retaliatory 84-
percent tariff on American goods starting tomorrow. This is going to 
devastate our economy. In Illinois, it will hurt our farmers who export 
thousands of tons of soybeans, American corn, pork, and more to China.
  Unsurprisingly, the markets have responded with shock and panic. I 
know that half of the American people don't own stock or really follow 
what is happening in the stock market closely, but many do. And this, I 
can say: In the week after Trump's self-destructive announcement, the 
S&P 500 dropped by nearly 19 percent--19 percent--from its last high on 
February 19, creeping eerily close to bear market territory.
  Last week's drop wiped out more than $5 trillion of total wealth. 
Overnight, many Americans watched their retirement accounts plummet--
what a sinking feeling to see that happen in such a short period of 
time.
  Americans who scrimped and saved their whole working lives for their 
retirement, who worked multiple jobs and made sacrifices to ensure they 
would have enough to live comfortably in their golden years, have been 
stunned by what has happened in just a matter of days with the Trump 
tariff tax.
  And add tanking our economy and hurting working families in the 
process to a long list of inexplicable decisions by the Trump 
administration.
  Donald Trump was bad as a TV real estate mogul, he was bad as a 
cheerleader on January 6, and he is bad as a doctor, with his failed 
Trump tariff tax operation.