March 4 (UPI) — Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blasted President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada on Tuesday, just hours before the president was scheduled to address a joint session of Congress.
Americans “can expect Donald Trump to launch a deluge of mistruths and falsehoods,” Schumer told reporters, as he stood before a graphic with the title “One Month of Trump.”
“But tonight we won’t hear one peep from Donald Trump about his broken promise to bring inflation down on Day One. We won’t hear one syllable about how Donald Trump’s policies are making inflation and the costs that average American families pay worse,” Schumer added.
Trump is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The address is not called a State of the Union because it is the president’s first address to both chambers since January’s inauguration.
Trump’s 25% tariffs took effect Tuesday after the White House said the president “gave both Canada and Mexico ample opportunity to curb dangerous cartel activity and influx of lethal drugs flowing into our country, but they have failed to adequately address the situation.” Mexico and Canada immediately responded by imposing retaliatory levies.
Schumer slammed the tariffs, claiming they were not well-thought out and will only cost Americans.
“These tariffs are going to cost huge amounts to the American people. They’re not thought out. They’re willy nilly. They’re against some of our closest allies and not against people we need. So the trade policies have to be improved because Donald Trump’s screwing them up so badly,” Schumer told reporters.
U.S. stocks plummeted Tuesday in response to the tariffs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing more than 670 points at the close.
“Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico mean American families could see $2,000 more in expenses every year,” Schumer claimed in a post on X. “Trump is starting a trade war with our closest trade partners. And all so he can cut taxes for his billionaires’ club. Democrats will not stop fighting for families.”
Schumer also blamed Trump for recently released economic numbers, citing a decline in retail sales in January and an increase in applications for unemployment benefits over the last three months. The Trump administration has said those numbers are a result of the Biden administration’s long-standing policies, which the White House says the president is working to correct.
“This is not what an economic boom looks like. This is economic anemia created by Trump’s own policies,” Schumer argued.
“It makes no sense to start a trade war with America’s closest trade partners because the casualty of that trade war will be consumers and American households.”
