[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 79 (Monday, May 12, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S2851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TARIFFS
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on tariffs, early this morning, it was
reported that Donald Trump caved to Xi Jinping and the Chinese
Communist Party, with virtually nothing to show for American workers.
Donald Trump has changed his mind, once again, on his tariffs, with a
new ``deal'' with China to pause most tariffs for 90 days.
Sadly, it looks like China has, once again, gotten the better of
Donald Trump. They hardly had to give up a thing.
It is another example of Donald Trump's chaos. Trump has one policy
for his tariffs on one day and a different policy the next day. One
day, he is pretending to be a tough guy with China. The next day he is
caving to China and getting little, if anything, in return. Who knows
what Trump's tariff policy will be in 90 days?
If I were a businessperson, I wouldn't count on what he is doing or
what he says today that probably won't be in effect in the next week or
the next 3 weeks.
Even under this ``deal,'' tariffs are still significantly higher than
they were before Trump's ``Liberation Day.'' Businesses will continue
to struggle. Supply chains will continue to experience chaos, strain,
and unpredictability.
Again, this is only a 90-day pause. As I said before, it is
impossible to predict what will happen next, even within the 90-day
period, because Trump changes his mind so quickly. Whatever seems good
in front of him at the moment, he goes for.
First, he is mad at China and puts in the tariffs. Then he gets lots
of blowback and backs off.
Where will he be tomorrow? Who the heck knows. But businesses can't
count on reliability, only on chaos.
Donald Trump's trade war is a lose-lose-lose for American families
and businesses, leaving them with increased costs and more chaos.
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