Senate Democrat: Tariffs 'will come back to haunt Donald Trump'
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) weighed in the latest tariff announcement from President Trump, telling reporters that the new taxes will "come back to haunt" Trump and cause prices to increase.
“The President's tariffs threaten recession, but very immediately they are attacks, they'll raise prices on everything from electricity to gas to groceries,” Blumenthal said Wednesday from the Capitol.
The new tariff measures directed at nearly every country around the world, according to the Connecticut Democrat, are “probably the most stupid economic step taken by a president in this generation, and I think they will come back to haunt Donald Trump."
He added, "They are reckless, careless, just plain dumb and also a betrayal of our relationship to Canada.”
Trump rolled out the new tariff policy on Wednesday afternoon, slapping a 10 percent base tax on items coming into the U.S.
Major trading partners Mexico and Canada were exempt from the latest iteration but are already facing a 25 percent tariff bump that the president imposed earlier this year, while items covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement are exempt. A variety of countries are being targeted at a greater clip, with tariffs going upwards of 54 percent.
“Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years, but it’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said on Wednesday.
The president has argued for some time that the U.S. has been engaged in unfair trade deals for far too long and that it is time to turn the tide. With the fresh tariffs, the administration contends they would benefit the economy over the long-term and bring back jobs along with bolstering manufacturing domestically.
In response, some nations have vowed swift retaliation, while others are looking to negotiate soon in hopes of hammering out a better deal that would benefit both sides.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a warning Wednesday.
"Countries should think twice before retaliating against the U.S. and instead let the tariffs take effect and go from there," Bessent said in an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier.
“My advice to every country right now is, do not retaliate, sit back, take it in, let’s see how it goes, because, if you retaliate, there will be escalation,” he added. “If you don’t retaliate, this is the high water-mark.”