Republican Senator Rand Paul has warned his party that tariffs have “decimated politics” after he voted against President Donald Trump’s duties on Canadian imports yesterday.
Sen. Paul of Kentucky told Fox News that tariffs have historically brought down his party.
“When McKinley put tariffs on in 1890, they lost 50 percent of their seats… When Smoot-Hawley put their tariffs In the early 1930s, we lost the House and Senate for 60 years,” Sen. Paul said.
“So not only bad economically, they are bad politically.”
After Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs slapped 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports and a minimum 10 percent duty on all countries, the Kentucky senator crafted the opposition resolution with Democrat Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Four Republicans, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Susan Collins of Maine, joined every Democratic senator in voting against Canadian duties.
In a 51-48 vote, they rejected Trump’s declaration of a national emergency earlier this year to justify tariffs on Canadian imports.
In a rare move, Sen. Paul and Sen. Kaine, who ran as vice presidential candidate against Trump and Mike Pence in 2016, also made a joint appearance on Fox News to explain the impact on Americans and why their resolution is important.
“We are richer because of trade with Canada, and so is Canada,” Sen. Paul said. “There is no Canada versus the US”.
The senator explained: “Whenever you trade with somebody when an individual buys somebody else’s product, it’s mutually beneficial, or you wouldn’t buy it.
“The consumer wins when the price is the lowest price. Tariffs raise prices, and they’re a bad idea for the economy.”
“Trade is proportional to wealth; the last 70 years of international trade has been an exponential curve upwards, and the last 70 years of prosperity has been upwards.”
Source: independent.co.uk