On Fox Business, former Sen. Pat Toomey warns Trump's tariffs will be “probably the largest tax increase on American consumers in the history of the country”
Toomey: “I think taxing American consumers when they buy imports is going to do much more harm than good”
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From the April 3, 2025, edition of Fox Business' Mornings with Maria Bartiromo
MARIA BARTIROMO (ANCHOR): What is your reaction to what has taken place with that resolution in the Senate?
PAT TOOMEY (FORMER SENATOR): I wish it were an unanimous vote. I mean, the Republican value has long been for low taxes and a market economy. What President Trump has proposed is actually, if it's carried out, will be probably the largest tax increase on American consumers in the history of the country. And there's no good reason to be putting taxes on products coming from Canada. So I strongly disagree with this trade war that has been launched. And I'm hoping Congress will start to put up some resistance.
BARTIROMO: Well, of course, Canada and Mexico are exempt from the retaliatory tariffs, but they already face the 25% tariff due to the fentanyl trade. What do you wanna say to the president who says the U.S. has been getting ripped off and that there are, you know, 100%-plus tariffs coming from some of our friends and foe alike?
TOOMEY: There's a lot to to say. So first of all, on a trade-weighted basis, if you look at the volume of transactions that actually take place, the U.S. has about the same level of tariffs as the European Union. We have trade surplus with the UK and Australia, the president's choosing to put tariffs on them anyway. And for all this discussion about how badly we've been abused and ripped off and how terrible it's been, well, we're the world's biggest economy with 4% of the world's population, we have 25% of the world's economic output. We are the biggest agricultural exporter in the world. Our manufacturing, domestic manufacturing is at an all time high. We're doing it with fewer workers mostly because automation has allowed us to do it much more productively. But I think taxing American consumers when they buy imports is gonna do much more harm than good.