Republican Congressional Leader Differs Slightly on Trump’s Tariff Views

On Tuesday morning, US President Trump announced a decision to impose a high tariff of 25% on Canada and Mexico. However, the opinions among the Republican leadership in Congress vary slightly on this matter.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (Louisiana) praised the President’s tariff policy during a press conference. He believes that President Trump’s plan for reciprocal tariffs may have a positive effect of making other countries realize they need to adjust their own behaviors.

Johnson stated that the “America First” agenda is about resetting relationships with other countries rather than provoking so-called “trade wars” or engaging in confrontations. He emphasized that increasing tariffs is actually “to continue good relations and trade policies… it will achieve the desired results… as the President has said, we need to have patience… see how it develops, in the end, America will be better.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (South Dakota) expressed some reservations, hoping that the tariffs would be “temporary” and “selective,” serving as a “means to an end.” Thune, hailing from an agricultural state that was severely impacted by Trump’s first-term trade wars, wants the new tariffs to only be implemented during the time of restricting the flow of fentanyl into the US. He mentioned that tariffs are just a tool to achieve the goal, not the goal itself, and can be used selectively to encourage cooperation between Mexico, Canada, and the US to stop drug trafficking.

Thune told reporters, “I come from an agricultural state, I have a different perspective on the tariff issue, nothing happens in a vacuum.” In his view, there are pros and cons to everything, and conflicts are not irreconcilable, it’s just a matter of time.

Republican lawmakers from agricultural regions are concerned that this move will only prompt retaliatory tariffs against American farmers and deepen their reliance on exporting products overseas.

For Republican lawmakers from agricultural states, another blow is the swift announcement from China that it will impose new retaliatory tariffs on major US export products such as soybeans, dairy products, poultry, wheat, corn, pork, and beef.

In the coming days and weeks, Thune and Johnson will strive to balance the opinions of voters and their Republican colleagues, weighing the ideals of the MAGA coalition members against the hardships of the voters from agricultural states.

The tariffs imposed by the US on Canada and Mexico have led to a significant drop in the stock market, with the S&P 500 index falling by 1.8% at one point, marking the largest single-day decline since December 2024, pushing it into negative territory for the year. Futures continued to be under pressure on Tuesday. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed confidence in President Trump’s broad plan to impose tariffs on foreign countries. He emphasized that the market sell-off is just temporary, and Wall Street is not the government’s medium-term focus.

(This article drew references from POLITICO’s reporting)