Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Donald Trump’s Tariff Tax Teeing Up A Recession And The Senate’s Duty To Ease This Economic Uncertainty
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, and make a recession more likely. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
I would like to begin by reading a quote from Bill Ackman, the billionaire well known for his support of Donald Trump: “We are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down.”
Preston Caldwell, a senior economist for Morningstar Research, likewise said, “If they’re maintained, the tariff hikes announced April 2nd represent a self-inflicted economic catastrophe for the United States.”
Meanwhile, Larry Fink of Blackrock says most CEOs he has spoken to would say we have already entered a recession.
The damage of Donald Trump’s tariff tax has already been done.
And regardless of what the markets say from one hour to the next, there are no signs that the chaos is changing at any time soon.
Americans are anxious. Nobody looking at their retirement accounts today is feeling anything close to liberated. It has been a hellacious few days for people worried about their 401ks and their savings and their kids’ future. And that’s not changing any time soon.
Before things get worse, Donald Trump should immediately reverse his reckless trade war. He should halt his tariff tax at once.
And he should start focusing more on America’s actual trade adversaries, like China, instead of picking a fight with the entire world and causing chaos and steering us towards a recession in the process.
The chaos within the Trump administration was shown two minutes ago, when Elon Musk called Peter Navarro, the chief architect of these tariffs, a moron. That’s Musk’s word – he called him a moron.
Their plan is so crazy, so controversial, that this administration cannot get its act together, with them calling names against one another about this tariff plan.
This is perhaps the most significant task for Republican leadership since Donald Trump became president. The choice in front of Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson is simple: choose Donald Trump, or choose American families. Stand up to Donald Trump, or watch him trigger a recession.
So this morning, I am writing to Speaker Johnson urging him to put the Senate-passed resolution undoing Donald Trump’s Canadian tariffs for a vote in the House.
Let me quote from the letter: “Plain and simple, the Trump Trade War is a Trump Tax on families, raising their costs by nearly $4,000 per year and devastating small businesses, forcing them to raise prices or layoff staff. It is a dangerous, foolish exercise that is wreaking havoc on the American economy and could very well tee up a recession. If the president doesn’t back off, Congress must take action – the Senate has already taken action to provide relief from tariffs on Canada, and the House should follow immediately.”
Remember, this resolution affects Canada. Nobody understands what the heck the president is doing with Canada. It was bipartisan, it got four Republican votes, and passed the Senate.
So, the Senate has done its part, now the Speaker must act if he cares about avoiding a recession, if he cares about American families.
I am confident that if Speaker Johnson were to put the Senate’s Canada resolution on the floor, the bipartisan resolution we passed, it would pass the House as well.
In an additional matter, this morning, I am proud to be joining Senators Wyden, Kaine, as well as Senators Shaheen, Welch, Warren and Senator Paul, to introduce another resolution that would put a halt on all of Donald Trump’s global tariffs. The resolution we passed deals with Canada, this resolution deals with all the global tariffs.
I am very proud to cosponsor this legislation. The Senate has the power and authority to stop this madness and we have a duty to act in a bipartisan way to repeal these tariffs.
As you know, the previous resolution by Senator Kaine got four Republican votes here in the Senate.
This resolution would terminate the emergency that Donald Trump has declared in order to slap tariffs on 49% of products Americans buy from other countries. It would terminate that.
Again, instead of picking a fight with the entire world, Donald Trump should be focused on going after America’s actual adversaries.
The Senate has the power and authority to stop Donald Trump’s tariff madness. We Senate Democrats intend on making sure the Senate gets the chance to exercise that power.
Senator Wyden's resolution is privileged and will be able to go to the floor of the Senate.
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