By Bob Bryan | Business Insider.
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake wasted no time responding to President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum on Thursday, rolling out a bill to reverse the decision.
Flake said the new tariffs, which function as taxes on imports, of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum would be detrimental to the US economy and must be stopped.
“These so-called ‘flexible tariffs’ are a marriage of two lethal poisons to economic growth – protectionism and uncertainty,” Flake said in a statement. “Trade wars are not won, they are only lost.”
A slew of Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, expressed concern about the tariffs in the run up to the announcement. Trump ultimately backed down slightly from what were initially described as broad-reaching, indiscriminate tariffs, exempting Canada and Mexico as well as creating a pathway to exemption for other nations.
But Flake said that was not enough and Congress must act.
