Two U.S. senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Pat Roberts of Kansas could play key roles in relaxing the noose tightening around the necks of farmers, factory workers and manufacturers across the nation.
President Donald Trump fashioned that rope. Hes ignited a trade war by imposing punitive tariffs on imported goods such as steel and aluminum.
To no ones surprise, Americas trading partners have retaliated by erecting barriers of their own, taking aim at whiskey, motorcycles, even ketchup. China is expected to impose a 25 percent tariff on soybeans Friday.
We warned of such a possibility a month after Trump became president. Sadly, that prediction has come to pass.
The threat of a trade war has angered Republicans and Democrats. Readers who have weighed in on The Stars Missouri Influencer series said excessive tariffs are among the states most significant economic challenges.
Tariffs and trade wars benefit few and harm many, Mike Talboy, an Influencer and the director of government affairs at Burns & McDonnell, told us.
Influencer Jennifer Lowry, chief of section of toxicology and environmental health at Childrens Mercy Kansas City, agreed: Manufacturing jobs are being lost to other countries because of the costs that are added with the tariffs, she said.
Studies reinforce that view. In a report issued Monday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said a trade war threatens more than 1.2 million jobs in Missouri and Kansas.
These arguments have been lost on the president, who seems determined to isolate America from the world marketplace, no matter how much damage that might do in this country.
Congress must step in. There is a place to start.
Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, a Republican, has introduced legislation that would curb the presidents power to enact tariffs for national security reasons. Corker wants congressional consideration of those tariffs.
People are being hurt, Corker said recently. You saw the Harley-Davidson issue. They are going to move some of the jobs overseas to avoid these tariffs … A tariff is a tax on the American people.
Hes absolutely right. Yet Republicans and Democrats in the Senate afraid, apparently, of angering Trump have ducked votes on the Corker measure. Instead, it sits in the Senates Finance Committee, awaiting consideration as a stand-alone bill.
Thats where Sens. Roberts and McCaskill can help. Both have complained loudly about the impact of the Trump tariffs on their constituents in Kansas and Missouri. In statements this week, both offices told us theyre working behind the scenes to find a solution to the trade war fiasco.
Yet neither is a co-sponsor of the Corker bill.
