Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) stood by the recent tariffs President Donald Trump announced against China, Canada, and Mexico.
The nearest neighbors to the U.S. are each facing a 25% tariff that is slated to begin on Tuesday. Additionally, a 10% tariff will go into place against Canadian energy. Meanwhile China was handed a 10% tariff on top of what was already in place from Trump's first term, which former President Joe Biden largely kept in place.
PRICES ON THESE ITEMS COULD BE AFFECTED BY TRUMP TARIFFS ON MEXICO, CANADA
"All we have to do is look at President Trump’s first four years, where he institutes tariffs. We didn’t see inflation. In fact, we saw record wage growth. We saw $200 billion-plus go into the treasury from those tariffs," Schmitt said on NBC News's Meet the Press Sunday. "It’s also worth noting in the last four years that the trade imbalance and our trade deficit has gone up 200 plus percent with Canada up and 50% with Mexico. The fact is these countries are taking advantage of us, all along the while, we’ve got fentanyl streaming into our countries."
"You mentioned Canada. Very little fentanyl is coming across the border from Canada," moderator Kristen Welker contended. "Why is the president punishing Canada more than China, the country’s adversary? Do you think that’s right?"
"Well, that number is growing, Kristen. I think it’s important, especially in the last year," Schmitt said. "I heard the clip earlier, Justin Trudeau sort of lecturing Americans. My advice to him, he probably ought to talk to the Canadian people that are about to throw him out of office because he’s been a total disaster. We've got a president that wants to put America first and protect people. We have 100,000 people a year, Kristen, dying from fentanyl. He ran on this. This is not a surprise."
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The last tariff raised against China was in May 2024, when Biden announced tariffs against $18 billion worth of Chinese goods and effectively raised sale taxes in the U.S. by 3.6 billion.
According to an estimate by the nonpartisan think tank Tax Foundation, Trump's latest tariffs could raise taxes by more than $1 trillion between 2025 and 2034 should they continue that long. As Schmitt pointed out, these tariffs are largely negotiating tactics with the countries, which have since announced retaliatory tariffs.
