Chuck Grassley asks Trump for a tariff carveout
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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) speaks with reporters outside of the Senate Chambers in the U.S. Capitol Building on March 14, 2023. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Monday asked President Trump for an exemption for farmers on the sweeping tariffs he imposed over the weekend.
Why it matters: Republican lawmakers from agricultural states may find themselves in a tough spot as they try to avoid going against their party leader, while still protecting their constituents.
- American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said in a statement over the weekend that "farmers and rural communities will bear the brunt of retaliation" from the tariffs.
Driving the news: Grassley is one of the only farm-state GOP senators so far to ask for a tariff exemption.
- "Biden inflation increase the input cost to farming by 20% [including] particularly high prices on fertilizer," Grassley wrote on X on Monday morning.
- "So I plead [with] President Trump to exempt potash from the tariff because family farmers get most of our potash from Canada," he said of the crucial fertilizer ingredient.
Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) also warned Sunday that Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico "will drive the cost of everything up."
- "Why would you want to get into a fight with your allies?" he said on CBS's "60 Minutes."
State of play: Many farm-state Republicans are still publicly standing behind Trump's tariffs.
- House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) said over the weekend that Trump's tariff policy will be an "effective tool in leveling the global playing field and ensuring fair trade for American producers."
- And the U.S. and Mexico agreed Monday to a month-long pause on the implementation of tariffs, President Trump and Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum said in social media posts Monday.
- As of late Monday morning, tariffs on China were still set to take effect, although Trump said he'd spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and would do so again later in the day.
Meanwhile, some corporations and businesses are speaking out and warning of the financial impacts of the sweeping tariffs.
- "We are deeply concerned that U.S. tariffs on imported spirits from Canada and Mexico will significantly harm all three countries and lead to a cycle of retaliatory tariffs," the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., Mexico's Chamber of the Tequila Industry and Spirits Canada said in a joint statement.
What to watch: On the campaign trail, Senate Republicans repeatedly said that they saw Trump's tariff proposal as a negotiating tactic, Axios' Stef W. Kight, Justin Green, Hans Nichols previously reported.
- In August, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Axios that "across-the-board tariffs is not something I have been for in the past."
- Now that the tariffs are no longer a hypothetical campaign proposal, Republican senators may be forced to weigh in.
Go deeper: Looming tariffs threaten to interrupt Americans' economic gains
