Walden ‘very concerned’ about impacts of Trump’s tariffs

(Update: Walden statement voicing concern over impact of tariffs)

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., voiced some rare criticism of President Donald Trump on his imposition Thursday of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, saying he’s “very concerned about the unintended consequences” of such unilateral actions.

“I’m very concerned about the unintended consequences of the tariffs on steel and aluminum through the Section 232 process,” Walden said in a statement late Thursday.

“It’s one thing to make and win cases on unfair trade practices through established processes, as we did on hardwood plywood,” the congressman said. “It’s quite another to unilaterally slap tariffs on countries through a national security declaration.”

Earlier, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., offered their reactions Thursday in the wake of President Trump’s announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement in response to the president’s announcement that he plans to impose tariffs on unspecified steel and aluminum products from a list of countries that has not yet been finalized.

“The announcement today raises more questions than it answers,” Wyden said. “Americans are still waiting for a real solution to the fundamental issue: China’s unfair trade tactics, including massive overcapacity in steel and aluminum. Our workers and businesses need focused action that will end China’s policies, discourage such behavior in the future and address the issues oversupply causes in the world market.

“These actions need to give American workers a fair shake and bring back jobs in industries important to our national security,” he said. “It is too soon to tell whether this administration is up to the task of delivering that kind of action.”

Wyden noted China maintains significant overcapacity in steel and aluminum, as a result of heavy subsidization of its industry.

Two years ago, Congress gave the president new tools to stop trade cheating, including the Leveling the Playing Field Act, which helped U.S. steel companies obtain tariffs against unfairly traded steel imports, and the ENFORCE Act, which allowed U.S. Customs to detect and prevent circumvention of trade orders. Imports of steel products from China have fallen to 3 percent of total U.S. steel imports as a result of trade remedy actions, Wyden’s office said in a news release.

Merkley released the following statement on the president’s order authorizing tariffs on imported steel and aluminum:

“If we don’t make things in America, we won’t have a middle class in America. There’s no doubt that we can and should do more to combat countries that are unfairly undercutting the market for American products — but we need to do it in a thoughtful and targeted way. Unfortunately, President Trump’s tariffs seem to be more about creating a talking point for the President than putting in place a thought-out strategy to grow American jobs and the American economy.”

“There’s a better way to fight back against countries that dump products and that undercut our workers with rock-bottom labor laws and environmental standards. In the coming days, I will introduce the Level the Playing Field Act of 2018 , and show what fighting back against unfair trade practices should look like,” Merkley said.