Republican lawmakers are shuddering as they prepare for President Donald Trump's next wave of tariffs which he's promised to announce on Wednesday, Politico reported — and they're scrambling to work with industry groups to secure carveouts for their own states.
Economists have been sounding the alarm about the destructive impact of the president's proposed tariffs since before he was elected, warning the sharp new import taxes on goods, materials and components across a variety of industries could shrink the economy and raise prices.
This new rush behind the scenes "signals the heightened anxiety among Republicans about the next phase of his trade wars — and the political pitfalls ahead for the president and his party," according to Politico. "Four Republicans with direct knowledge of the strategy, granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations, described the behind-the-scenes planning as concerted and targeted," driven by uncertainty as Republicans in Congress still don't know exactly what will be targeted by Trump's "reciprocal tariffs" plan.
Specifically, according to the report, some GOP lawmakers "are coordinating with powerful private sector groups as well as conservative-leaning agriculture lobbyists and other representatives of affected industries. The hope is to pressure administration officials to limit the tariffs’ scope and incorporate key carve-outs ahead of time."
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Already, when Trump's previous waves of tariffs were announced, a number of Republicans expressed worry, with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) admitting to constituents he is "concerned" about the impact.
This is not the first time that Republicans normally supportive of Trump have found themselves begging the White House to spare their own states from his policies; as Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk ramped up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force to suspend and cut funding to federal programs and dismiss huge chunks of the civil service, a number of Republican lawmakers frantically lobbied against cuts and layoffs that would adversely impact their own states.