Wyden Slams Trump Slapping Blanket Tariffs on Essential Items from Brazil

Wyden Slams Trump Slapping Blanket Tariffs on Essential Items from Brazil

Watch a video of Wyden deliver his remarks here

As Prepared for Delivery

I rise to support my colleagues Senator Kaine and Senator Paul on their joint resolution to terminate Donald Trump's order placing blanket tariffs on products Americans buy from Brazil.

I'll start with the impact on Americans. Trump's unilateral tariff spree is an unprecedented tax on families who are already struggling. The tariffs on Brazil are no different. We get a lot of coffee from Brazil, and coffee prices are up 21 percent from a year ago. Ground beef is up 13 percent from last year, according to Fox News, and Brazil is a major supplier. But instead of getting rid of these tariffs, Trump is sending $40 billion to subsidize ranchers in Argentina!

I recently held town halls in Eugene and Gresham, and surprisingly not a single Oregonian told me they wanted to pay more for their morning coffee, or more for a hamburger.

In all, Trump's tariffs will cost the average American family more than $2,000 dollars this year, according to the Yale Budget Lab. That's the "what" - higher prices on coffee, beef and building materials Americans get from Brazil. Now I want to discuss the "Why".

Trump didn't unilaterally slap these 40 percent tariffs on things we buy from Brazil to help U.S. workers. No, America had a $7 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year. And while food prices in the U.S. are shooting up, Trump's tariffs have lowered food prices in Mexico and Brazil.

The real reason Donald Trump is imposing these tariffs, by his own words, is to settle his own personal scores, and pressure the Brazilian government to let their corrupt former president off the hook. In his letter announcing the tariffs, Trump called the prosecution of former President Bolsonaro a "witch hunt." Mr. Bolsonaro was convicted of masterminding a failed coup. There is no way that taking money out of Americans' wallets to protect one corrupt politician in South America makes a lick of sense.

This is a brazenly illegal and corrupt effort by Donald Trump that is directly hurting Americans. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote yes on the Kaine-Paul resolution to end the Brazil tariffs. This body will vote on more of these resolutions in coming weeks, including my legislation to repeal all of Trump's global tariffs. I am committed to seizing back Congress's constitutional role over trade.

It is my hope that colleagues on both sides of the aisle will exercise their best judgement, listen to their constituents and vote for Americans instead of for Donald Trump and corrupt foreign strongmen.

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