'Not The Answer': Tim Kaine Discusses Resolution To Block Trump's Tariffs On Canada

2 days ago

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) spoke about President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you to Leader Schumer for being a great partner in this effort, and here we are.

00:05It's an unusual procedure.

00:06There are not many things where even one senator can file a motion that will be guaranteed

00:11a floor vote.

00:12But the crafters of this legislation, the International Emergencies Act, believed that

00:18while a president might need to declare an emergency, that should not go unchallenged

00:22if members of Congress felt like, hold on a second, let's get this right.

00:27No one is denying that there's a fentanyl challenge in the United States, a huge challenge.

00:31We've all seen it in all of our states, in all of our states.

00:34And that is why this is not an action to undo the Mexico tariffs or undo the China tariffs.

00:42You might argue about whether the emergency is one where tariffs is the right answer,

00:47but clearly the fentanyl trade is being heavily driven through Mexico or precursor chemicals

00:53from China.

00:54But Canadian tariffs are not the answer to the solution because the fentanyl problem

01:00is not primarily a Canadian problem.

01:03There's an article that's out in the Globe and Mail today that digs into the disparities.

01:0721,000 pounds of fentanyl seized from Mexico coming across the border last year.

01:12And there's a claim that there's 43 pounds seized from Canada, but the article that's

01:17just come out from the Globe and Mail suggests it's actually a good bit less, even than 43

01:21pounds.

01:22There's a lot of work that we should and need to do together on fentanyl.

01:26Of course, Chuck led us to pass the halt fentanyl bill in the Senate just two weeks ago, and

01:30there's more we can do.

01:32But this is not about fentanyl.

01:34It's about tariffs.

01:35It's about a national sales tax on American families.

01:38Trump's economic advisor, Peter Navarro, said that the total of these tariffs will be $6

01:43trillion of taxes paid by American consumers, more than $600 billion a year.

01:51I've told the story of this baker that I have in Virginia.

01:54April is her name.

01:55She owns a bakery.

01:56Some of you might know this place.

01:57It's called Mom's Apple Pie.

01:58Now, is this a good thing for a speech in the Senate recording studio?

02:04Mom's Apple Pie Bakery.

02:05April owns it.

02:06Three locations.

02:07Loudoun, Purcellville, Occoquan.

02:09I was with her recently.

02:10She said, Tim, you've got to do something about these Canadian tariffs.

02:13And I said, April, you've got these three little bakeries.

02:16I mean, Canadian tariffs, how do they affect you?

02:19Pie tins.

02:20All aluminum pie tins.

02:21They all come from Canada.

02:22You increase the price of a pie tin by 25 percent.

02:25And it's even worse if you have a can of beer with your apple pie.

02:28There you go.

02:30Or try some whiskey or something.

02:32The pie tin goes up by 25 percent.

02:34And she said, nobody has to buy an apple pie.

02:37It's to celebrate somebody's birthday or a party.

02:39And if the price of a tin goes up by 25 percent, I sell fewer pies.

02:43I may have to lay people off.

02:45She's been through it in round one with Trump's tariffs in the first term.

02:49My largest business in Virginia is the shipyard, Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Newport News.

02:54Ships and subs critical to our nation's security.

02:5735 percent of the aluminum and steel that are used in U.S. ships and subs comes from

03:02Canada.

03:03The other 65 percent is American-made steel.

03:04We're having a hard time producing ships and subs on time and on budget now.

03:09These tariffs kick in.

03:10It's going to get much worse.

03:11I'm very, very proud that this is a bipartisan bill.

03:13Rand Paul is an original co-sponsor of the bill.

03:16He's going to take the floor at 3 o'clock today for a half hour to talk about this.

03:20But I'm also proud with the number of stakeholders that have signed on.

03:22This morning, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce signed on to support SJRES 37, the AFL-CIO,

03:29the sheet metal workers, the steel workers, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National

03:34Taxpayers Union.

03:37Mike Pence started a think tank after he stopped being vice president.

03:40I think it's called American Freedom Alliance.

03:45They came out yesterday, Vice President Pence's think tank, came out to support SJRES 37.

03:51We have support left, right, and center because people don't want Americans to have to struggle

03:56to pay more for groceries, pay more for building supplies, pay more for apple pie, for God's

04:01sake.

04:02I'm really happy to be joined by Senators Ossobrick and Senator Welch, and I think Senator

04:05Welch might be right.

'Not The Answer': Tim Kaine Discusses Resolution To Block Trump's Tariffs On Canada

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