During a press briefing on Monday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) slammed President Trump’s tariff policy for its effect on small businesses.
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00:00Okay. All right. Well, thank you so much, Leader Schumer. Thanks for your leadership
00:06on this. Thanks to my colleague, Senator Smith, and mostly thank you, Senator Markey, for
00:12having the wherewithal to think of this great idea, because we are in a whole lot of trouble
00:18in general in the economy. We know that. Americans know it when you see the numbers of the president's
00:25first 100 days, but it is small businesses and small farms and small ranches that are
00:31really going to be bearing the brunt of this. I know, having talked to them, I've just been
00:38a bunch of farmers, and they're losing their soybean markets. They don't know what they're
00:42going to do. They and the small business owners that are standing here with us today, they
00:47do not have a direct dial number for the White House. They do not have the president's cell
00:51phone. They are not like a major, major CEO of a Fortune 500 company that can call and
00:57get a meeting with the White House and then get their products exempted. They weren't invited
01:03to the JP Morgan secret meeting with the Treasury Secretary, where the Treasury Secretary gave
01:08them little tips on what was going to be happening here. They're excluded from all of that. And
01:13that, in addition to what this is doing to our economy as a whole, the big business, small
01:18business, the $4,000 tariff tax for every family, the $200 grocery tax for every family, but
01:25the unfairness and the destruction of the competitive marketplace for small businesses will have longer
01:32term effects than anyone can even imagine.
01:36So one example of the small business here today is a Minnesotan and we're really excited.
01:43She is her, her name is Beth Vannecke, the leader mentioned her. She was just, this is really
01:50like what we call ironic, she was at the White House, at the Small Business Administration just
01:58before this, is that right? To get the award, get an award. She's Minnesota's Entrepreneur of
02:04the Year. She makes baby equipment for high chairs, that's why it's called a busy baby,
02:11because they throw things off the high chairs. She has just been getting her products on shelves
02:16all over in major retailers and then she is hit by these tariffs. This is a living example
02:23where they're giving her an award for her incredible entrepreneurship as a small business and then
02:29they're socking with her with these tariffs that make it impossible to run her business.