2 months ago
10
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took a rare step away from Donald Trump on Thursday when he became the latest Republican voice to question the president’s sweeping new tariffs, which have spiraled the stock market.
In an interview with Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow, Cruz said he opposed tariffs in general and cautioned of possible negative consequences for American consumers.
“Look, I think it is a mistake to assume that we will have high tariffs in perpetuity. I don’t think that would be good economic policy,” Cruz told Kudlow, a former Trump economic adviser.
“I am not a fan of tariffs,” Cruz pointed out.
The Texas Republican, usually a staunch supporter of Trump, argued the short-term impact of the president’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariff plan remains to be seen and depends on how other countries respond, either via negotiation or retaliation.
“If the result of yesterday’s announcement is a lot of our trading partners across the globe dramatically reduce the tariffs they charge on U.S. goods and services and the consequence of that is the U. S. government dramatically cuts the tariffs that were announced yesterday, that would be a great outcome,” he said. “But if the result is our trading partners jack up their tariffs and we have high tariffs everywhere, I think that is a bad outcome for America.”
Cruz described tariffs as “a tax on consumers.”
“I’m not a fan of jacking up taxes on American consumers,” he added. “So my hope is these tariffs are short-lived and they serve as leverage to lower tariffs across the globe.”
English (US) ·