DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Joni Ernst has harsh words for President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods. The Republican senator from Iowa, in a significant parting of ways with Trump, says the tariffs “are nothing more than a tax on Iowa farm families.”
In a statement released Tuesday Ernst said the “escalating trade war is putting the livelihoods of our rural communities in the crosshairs.” She says she supports Trump’s effort to equalize a trade imbalance but the United States should focus on access to new markets and completing new trade deals rather than imposing dangerous tariffs.
Trump says he’ll impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion in goods from China in addition to tariffs announced earlier, which Ernst says puts U.S. producers at risk of permanently losing valuable market access.