In Senate floor remarks on Friday, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) slammed President Trump's tariffs after the stock market dropped.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Senator from Michigan. Madam President, on so-called Liberation Day this week,
00:07President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on all of our trading partners. The size,
00:13the scope, and the impact of which have not been seen for nearly 100 years. The
00:21last time our nation imposed tariffs of this magnitude, it was when Republicans
00:26passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in the 1930s. And when they did that, it
00:33crashed our economy and drove the United States further into the Great
00:39Depression. It was a history lesson that should never be repeated. Let me say that
00:46again, it was a history lesson that should never be repeated. But yesterday,
00:51Donald Trump imposed far-reaching tariffs at a rate higher than Smoot-Hawley.
00:57Higher than it was then with those catastrophic consequences. The history is
01:03clear, this strategy does not work and can have absolutely catastrophic
01:08consequences. No surprise, the President's tariff announcement sent shockwaves
01:15through our economy, dropping markets to their lowest level since the COVID
01:20pandemic 2020. Just yesterday, the Dow Jones average dropped more than 1,600
01:27points, a 4% decline. S&P 500 companies lost a combined, this is a big number,
01:352.4 trillion dollars in value. And as Wall Street opened today, we're
01:42unfortunately seeing the market continue to plummet. As I speak right now, another
01:462 trillion dollars lost. That's quite a record for the President to lose
01:52Americans 4 trillion dollars in two days. That's never been done before. That is a
01:58record. So let's just get this straight. During his first administration, we know
02:03Donald Trump grossly mismanaged the pandemic and tanked our economy then, and
02:08it took years for the markets to recover. So now, to kick off his second
02:14administration, he's playing poker with Americans' livelihoods, with Americans'
02:20retirement savings, and with Americans' hard-earned income. It's clear that what
02:28this means to the average American. It means that when you go to buy things
02:32like eggs and clothing and new appliances for your home, they're gonna
02:37cost more. You'll notice that when you go to the store, it's gonna be very real.
02:41You'll have less money in your pocket, and it's because of Donald Trump. He owns
02:46this, because of Donald Trump. If you're thinking about retiring soon, you have
02:51seen the last couple days, if you look, your 401k and your IRA retirement funds
02:56decimated. And it's because of Donald Trump. There are folks out there right
03:01now who are being forced to have real, hard conversations about whether they
03:06can even retire as they had planned, or are they gonna need to keep working a
03:10little longer. And, let's be clear, it's because of Donald Trump. But, you know, he
03:18didn't have to do this. In fact, some of you may know Jim Cramer, a leading
03:23voice in financial markets. In response to Trump's decision, he actually said,
03:28quote, I struggle. I struggle for what the president's game plan is, because if you
03:33wanted to make the market crash, I think you would go with this plan. He said, it
03:39should not be in our country's interest to have the market crash. That's not a
03:43hot take. To me, that's just plain old common sense. So, what happened? Well, on
03:49Wednesday, the country experienced a national sales tax day. In the coming
03:55days, weeks, and months, the impact of the president's national sales tax will be
04:01devastating, and it won't be our competitors that are footing the bill.
04:05It'll be the American people that pay the tax on their groceries, their gas, and
04:12all the other goods that they buy. For instance, take the price of a new
04:16home. Building a new house requires everything from lumber, to steel, to
04:21concrete, light fixtures, ceiling fans, appliances. And, thanks to the president's
04:28all-out trade war, imports of every single one of those projects will be
04:32subject to the national sales tax that Americans will pay. That Americans will
04:41pay. And, as a result, the price of a new home has been estimated to increase up
04:46to $20,000. Buying a home is already challenging enough for most folks.
04:55Putting that additional cost on American families is simply unacceptable. And, it's
05:02not just homes. Gas, vehicles, groceries, household appliances, all will become
05:07more expensive because of Donald Trump. Remember when you are seeing higher
05:13prices at the store as you go to the store in the next few weeks, a month, and
05:16you say, whoa, this price is up. It's because of Donald Trump. He owns this. In
05:21fact, it has been estimated that the Republican national sales tax will cost
05:25the average family more than $5,000 per year. This national sales tax won't
05:35miraculously improve trade relationships or bring jobs home. It'll only make it
05:41harder for hard-working Americans who are trying to create a better life for
05:44themselves and for their children. In fact, and this statement should be
05:50shocking, but it's true, Donald Trump is actually prepared to plunge this country
05:55into a recession. One that could cost up to 400,000 jobs. And he said it. Just
06:05yesterday, because of Donald Trump's tax plan, JP Morgan raised the odds of the
06:09U.S. heading into a recession to 60%. And it's likely to go up as things
06:15continue. But again, what does Donald Trump have to say about all this? He said
06:20he doesn't care. Look it up. It's clear. He said it. And I can honestly say I
06:26do not think I have ever, ever heard an American president say they don't care
06:31if we go into a recession. I've never heard an American president say they
06:36don't care if American families and small businesses are hurt because of
06:40their policies. I don't think any president in history has ever said that.
06:45Not just those that I've experienced in my life. And what makes it worse is that
06:50while Americans bear the brunt of this new sales tax, the White House and
06:55Republicans here in Congress are actively working right now to give a big
06:59tax break to billionaires. Not everyday working people. Billionaires. They're
07:04going to be increasing the taxes on everybody through this national sales
07:08tax. And they plan to do it, among other things, by cutting things like essential
07:14health care that Americans rely on each and every day. Now I will say, I'll step
07:20back here, there are instances where tariffs can make sense. Tariffs are,
07:24if they're strategic, if they're targeted, they can be useful tools to bringing
07:28back American jobs. Certainly they can be used to combat unfair trading practices
07:35used by adversaries like China. And I support those types of tariffs. For
07:39example, last year I supported the 100% tariff we imposed on Chinese electric
07:43vehicles. We know the Chinese government is actively working to undermine our
07:49national security and our economic success. And companies backed by the
07:54Chinese Communist Party are flooding the global marketplace with artificially
07:59cheap vehicles that are really actually capable of stealing Americans' personal
08:05data, committing espionage, and even manipulating folks on the road while
08:09they're driving. It makes sense to raise tariffs on those technologies because
08:14they do indeed present a real national security threat to Americans. And they
08:19could impact in an incredibly negative way our auto industry. And when it comes to
08:25protecting the future of our auto industry and cementing Michigan's
08:28leadership in automotive innovation, there's no question that I support
08:33taking strong action to bring auto manufacturing jobs back to the United
08:37States to secure a better trade deal for our auto industry and to make sure
08:42that we have a level playing field for American workers and businesses to
08:46succeed. But these on-again, off-again, cross-the-board tariffs, this isn't a
08:54real plan. This is chaos. And it will not help us to achieve any of our long-term
09:00goals. For tariffs to work, they have to be a part of a comprehensive strategy
09:06that actually supports American workers and businesses. They can't just be
09:10haphazardly dumped on our trade allies like Canada, whose goods and products
09:16actually help us grow our manufacturing sector, create more jobs in America, and
09:21remain the greatest economy in the world. Take our auto industry, for example, the
09:27lifeblood of my state and the foundation of American
09:31manufacturing. The trade relationship between Michigan and Canada is so
09:36integrated that car companies cross the US-Canada border up to eight times
09:41before they're actually installed in final assembly. In fact, in Michigan, if
09:47Michigan were a country, we would be one of Canada's largest trading partners in
09:52the world. Going after Canada will be devastating for Michigan businesses that
09:58work hand-in-glove with our closest trade ally to the north to grow their
10:03companies and to create jobs here at home. If President Trump is serious, if
10:08he's serious, big question, if he's serious about leveling the playing field
10:13and bringing auto manufacturing jobs back to the United States, here's a
10:18playbook that he could actually follow. One, we need to pursue targeted tariffs
10:22on our adversaries like China and our biggest overseas competitors to one of
10:30one, that we ensure more cars are sold in America to make sure they're built
10:35here in America. Two, we need to renegotiate any trade deals that aren't
10:39favorable to American businesses and workers, something that offers far, far
10:44more certainty than sporadic tariffs. Specifically, we need to take a look at
10:49USMCA, where we have a real chance to address some of the shortcomings and
10:54outdated policies of our current trade landscape. Because while USMCA brought
11:01back some manufacturing jobs and some job opportunities, it's far from perfect.
11:06China, unfortunately, has found ways to take advantage of the agreement's
11:10preferred treatment of goods by locating facilities in Mexico and labor standards,
11:15particularly in Mexico, certainly need to be a whole lot stronger. We will have an
11:22opportunity to renegotiate this agreement next summer, at times that the
11:27current administration actually agreed to when it negotiated this deal in
11:31President Trump's first term. And we need to seize, we need to seize that
11:36opportunity. But with these tariffs looming like a black cloud over some of
11:41our most crucial relationships, I'm concerned we'll be coming to the
11:44negotiating table with one hand tied behind our back. Let's be clear, we should
11:51look to pursue those types of renegotiations throughout all, all of our
11:55trade agreements to ensure they are advantageous to American businesses and
11:59workers. Three, we must aggressively enforce the trade laws that we already
12:04have on the books. We need to double down on our efforts to deter trade cheats
12:10like China, which requires providing more resources for our federal trade
12:14agencies, not indiscriminately firing federal workers. Doing so will allow us
12:20to counteract countries that try to evade tariffs, dump their products onto
12:25our markets, and encourage transshipment. And finally, and finally, if President
12:31Trump is serious about protecting auto jobs here in the United States, he needs
12:35to end his attacks on the Inflation Reduction Act, plain and simple. Right
12:41now, Republicans are proposing a budget that will repeal incentives in the IRA,
12:47like the Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit and the Electric Vehicle Tax
12:51Credit, both of which have already, they have already created thousands of new
12:56auto and battery manufacturing jobs right here in America. To me, that is
13:01absolutely unthinkable, to end these. Why would you want to put an end to
13:05something that is proven, proven to be successful at creating economic growth
13:10and good-paying manufacturing jobs in our country? It makes no sense. The
13:18president needs to put his money where his mouth is and end this tariff charade.
13:24The stakes are just too high for American families, for our workers, and
13:28for our economy to get this wrong. Madam President, I urge all of my colleagues to
13:35say no to the National Sales Tax, and instead, let's liberate some common sense
13:43and work together to make this country stronger.