'A One-Man Crusade For A Recession': Lloyd Doggett Rails Against Trump's Tariffs

2 days ago

During a House Ways and Means Democrats press briefing on Thursday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) spoke about President Trump's tariffs.

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Transcript

00:00Senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and the ranking member of the Health Subcommittee, Lloyd Doggett.

00:06Thank you, Linda, for your leadership on this.

00:09While the pause yesterday was welcome news to many, it left in place some very high tariffs

00:15and with China, some extraordinarily exorbitant tariffs.

00:20And so Americans, rather than seeing prices going drastically down,

00:24whether it's going to get a cup of coffee, whether it's buying a pair of shoes,

00:28whether it's planning on toys for holidays or for a birthday party,

00:33Americans will face ever-rising prices.

00:37It's not only the tariff level, but it is the uncertainty around a whimsical president.

00:43It's a tariff level that businesses can never be sure that they can invest

00:48because they don't know what the price of the inputs that they will be getting will be costing.

00:53What they'll be costing next week, next month, or this afternoon.

00:59And that's not a way to move forward.

01:02It's one of the reasons that when I surveyed or asked the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association

01:08in my hometown to survey their members,

01:11they reported that almost half their members will be reducing hiring as a result of this.

01:17So this has ramifications throughout our economy.

01:20It's the reason that I think that President Trump is kind of a one-man crusade for a recession

01:26because his policies mean higher prices, less employment, and less business investment.

01:32And I think Congresswoman Sanchez's bill seeks to stop the madness.

01:37It reclaims the constitutional authority of this Congress on trade.

01:41It repeals the false national emergency that the president used,

01:46particularly outrageous relative to our northern partner and longtime ally,

01:51where more fentanyl is going from the U.S. to Canada than is coming from Canada into the U.S.

01:57It puts a stop to the kind of effort that has been made against some of our closest allies,

02:05the United Kingdom, Australia, with whom we have a free trade agreement.

02:08And yet, these tariffs were imposed on them despite the fact that we have not a deficit,

02:14but a surplus in trade with them already.

02:17Just before these tariffs were announced,

02:20I visited with the economics minister of one of countries that we've had a long-time strong relationship with.

02:26That minister came here to Washington,

02:29met with some of the same USTR members with the administration

02:33that didn't know what was going on yesterday,

02:36and asked essentially, what can we do to avoid a trade war with you?

02:39What steps can we take?

02:40And that person was told, absolutely nothing,

02:44because President Trump is intent on tariffs for all.

02:47Just don't complain.

02:48Well, we have plenty of reason as Americans to complain now.

02:52Normally, you negotiate before a war, not after it.

02:56And I'm pleased that Congresswoman Sanchez, as our leader on the trade subcommittee,

03:01is taking the step.

03:02And please join her.

03:04And welcome a great leader on our committee and in our caucus,

03:09who spoke so effectively yesterday on these trade matters, Susan DelBinny.

03:14Thanks, everybody.

03:17Thanks, everybody.

'A One-Man Crusade For A Recession': Lloyd Doggett Rails Against Trump's Tariffs

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