Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) broke his four-month Twitter hiatus with some strong words for President Donald Trump’s tariffs against China.
“Hopefully the President is just blowing off steam again but, if he’s even half-serious, this is nuts,” he wrote. “China is guilty of many things, but the President has no actual plan to win right now.
“He’s threatening to light American agriculture on fire,” he continued. “Let’s absolutely take on Chinese bad behavior, but with a plan that punishes them instead of us. This is the dumbest possible way to do this.”
Sasse isn’t the only Republican senator to signal his disapproval of the Chinese tariffs. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) held up a shirt spelling out the weaknesses of tariffs in a tweet from his Communications Director Matt Whitlock on Thursday:
Senator Hatch was thrilled to receive this shirt from a constituent as he traveled around this week talking about the economy and how tax reform has benefited Utahns.
Cc @scottlincicome #utpol pic.twitter.com/5AvOlUi2eL
— Matt Whitlock ?? (@mattdizwhitlock) April 5, 2018
Earlier in the week, both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) voiced their concerns about the damage escalating tariffs will do to Americans.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration set a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese products. China retaliated on Wednesday with a list of $50 billion worth of American products to levy, including soy beans. Trump is reportedly now considering answering China’s list with another $100 billion of tariffs on imported Chinese goods.
