An Illinois Republican said Thursday he would join other Republicans vowing to block President Trump’s threatened tariffs on Mexican products in the coming week as long as House Democrats put forward a clean bill.
“I have to caveat that with saying that pretty much everything the Democratic majority has put in front of us usually ends up being political somehow. They add provisions or whatever, but if it’s generically? Yes,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger said on CNN’s “New Day” program.
Mr. Kinzinger said while his constituents support a trade war with China, the farmers in his district are already taking it “on the chin” and slapping tariffs on another country’s goods is “the wrong answer.”
Mr. Trump said during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May that he will not retreat from his threat to impose tariffs on Mexican products until Mexico does more to stem the flow of migrants puncturing the southern U.S. border, with the possibility of raising them to 25 percent.
Mr. Kinzinger said linking “a non-trade issue with a trade hammer” was not wise, but said Democrats need to recognize “there is a crisis on the Southern border” and provide alternative solutions to fix it.
“You can disagree with the Republican solution of fixing some of the asylum laws and building a wall, disagree all you want. But then you need a solution to come back with, and that solution isn’t just to blame President Trump,” he said.
“I disagree with the idea of using tariffs, but I 100% agree with the president’s recognition of this problem,” he said.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul also vowed to block Mr. Trump’s tariffs, warning the president that running the government “by emergency” may only grow Republican opposition against him.
“I think what we may be finding is if we try to run government by emergency, is it may solidify opposition. Even people like myself who are largely supportive of President Trump, largely supportive of his initiatives. I can’t be for letting the president have all the power that the Constitution gave to Congress,” Mr. Paul said.
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this article.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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