With the threat of impending tariffs on what Trump calls “foreign-made cars,” business leaders paraded, one after another, in front of a Congressional committee on trade and tariffs to plead with the Trump administration to drop the idea of auto sector tariffs and put an end to the tariff war that Trump started.
Canadian politicians presented their case against auto tariffs, which may or may not have had any impact on American lawmakers, but some of the loudest voices against tariffs came from American business leaders and labour and consumer advocates.
They warned that auto sector tariffs would cause significant job losses in all facets of the auto industry on both sides of the border and, at the same time, the cost of new vehicles would increase significantly, which would erode consumer confidence in a key manufacturing component of state and local economies in both countries.
Those American voices of discontent were certainly heard by the Congress, many of whom will be seeking re-election this fall, but it may not matter.
WATCH: Auto industry braces as U.S. threatens potential tariffs
As long as Congress allows Donald Trump to label Canada and the European countries as a threat to national security, the negative impacts of Trump’s policy will continue.
I wonder how those people at Trump rallies feel about the fact that their president is willing to risk thousands of American auto sector jobs as collateral damage in his ill-conceived tariff tirade.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.