Washington, DC (RI) — President Trump announced Monday night he’ll impose 25-percent tariffs on Iowa’s two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico.
In a conference call with Iowa reporters, Senator Chuck Grassley called himself a “free trader” and says Trump’s tactics are “questionable” but he’s willing to pause and see if they’re effective.
Iowa businesses ship more products to Canada than anywhere else. Iowa exported five-and-a-half billion dollars’ worth of goods to Canada in 2023, which equated to 30 percent of the state’s total exports, while Mexico is Iowa’s second-largest trading partner. Grassley, a Republican, says he’ll take a wait-and-see approach to the president’s threatened tariffs.
The Tax Foundation, the world’s leading nonpartisan tax policy nonprofit, estimates the tariffs would reduce the nation’s GDP by four tenths of one percent and cut employment by nearly 345 thousand jobs. The foundation’s 2024 report says its estimates “do not capture the effects of retaliation, nor the additional harms that would stem from starting a global trade war.”</em>
Grassley says Trump already has a track record with enacting tariffs during his first administration.
Grassley was asked -twice- how the threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico would impact Iowa’s consumers, businesses and farmers, but he did not answer the question directly.
