Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Donald Trump’s Tariff Tax Raising Costs For American Families And Teeing Up A Recession
Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Donald Trump’s Tariff Tax Raising Costs For American Families And Teeing Up A Recession
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on Donald Trump’s ill-conceived and chaotic trade war, which will raise costs for American families, and make a recession more likely. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Make no mistake about it: Donald Trump is teeing up a nationwide recession.
Less than a week after Donald Trump started the largest, dumbest trade war in American history, all the signs say America is heading towards calamity.
A report by JP Morgan titled “There Will be Blood,” warned “these policies, if sustained, would likely push the US and possibly global economy into recession this year. An update of our probability scenario tree makes this point, raising the risk of a recession this year to 60%.”
That’s the conservative, cautious, JP Morgan – 60% chance of recession.
Barclays, meanwhile, said Donald Trump’s tariffs will cause inflation to nearly double as America enters a recession.
HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America all said the same thing: the tariffs have made a recession more likely.
And now today, Goldman Sachs are now the ones saying danger.
Some analysts say the damage is already done. Six trillion dollars of value have been wiped out.
Any community in America that relies on trade, or tourism, or farming, or energy, or any wide range of industries is at risk of a recession.
My state of New York, my city of New York, certainly, is at that risk and heading in that direction, unfortunately. Consumer activity is going to do down. Demand is going to suffer. Unemployment is going to go up.
And maybe worst of all, Donald Trump’s tariff tax is the largest tax hike since before the Vietnam War.
Families will pay $5,000 extra a year for groceries and appliances, for drugs, for clothes, for cars, for gasoline, and so much more.
Donald Trump campaigned on the fact that there was too much inflation, and yet he is already causing a ton of it.
So, let me say it again: Donald Trump is teeing up a nationwide recession.
If a recession does happen, it will be known as the Trump Recession.
I urge the president to back off from his disastrous tariffs immediately.
He should put down the golf clubs and pick up the papers, because the disaster he has created is anything but great.
On the contrary, liberation day is quickly turning into Donald Trump's infamous “mission accomplished” moment.
Congress must immediately take back power from Donald Trump before he causes more damage to the economy.
Leader Thune has a responsibility to listen to American families worried about the price of groceries, worried about their retirement, worried about keeping their jobs, worried about the future.
The Republican Leader should make passing tariff legislation the top priority of the Senate this week.
At his press conference a few minutes ago, Donald Trump just said he is not looking at a pause. Now, the only hope the American people have to avoid calamity rests on Leader Thune’s shoulders.
So Leader Thune has a decision to make: side with Donald Trump and his destructive policies, or side with the American people.
I was deeply disappointed last Friday night when Senate Republicans rejected my measure to halt any tariffs since January 20th if prices for groceries and medicines and other essential goods went up.
I hope Republicans reconsider their opposition the next time we vote in reconciliation, or else they’ll continue to get an earful from their constituents back home. Talk about canceled town hall meetings that Republicans had to do in the house – they're going to have to cancel a whole lot more of them, unless they start listening to the American people.
This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Most senators know, deep down, these tariffs are a disaster for the country.
###