ICYMI: Trade War at Issue in #NDSEN as Cramer Rubber Stamps President’s Policies
Kevin Cramer has demonstrated time and again that he’ll be a rubber stamp for all of the president’s policies – even when those policies hurt North Dakotans. Unfortunately for Cramer, North Dakotans are taking notice, and they’ll hold him accountable in November.
Associated Press: How the trade war is changing minds in a Senate battleground
By Jonathan Mattise and Steve Peoples
July 7, 2018
Key Points:
- Concerns [over trade] are roiling high-profile Senate contests in Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania and North Dakota and forcing GOP candidates to answer for the trade policies of a Republican president they have backed on almost every other major issue.
- Now, as [the president] sparks an international trade war four months before the midterm elections, few policies could be more problematic for Trump’s allies in pivotal Senate contests.
- The Trump administration imposed a 25 percent tax on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports on Friday, and China is retaliating with taxes on an equal amount of U.S. products, including soybeans, electric cars and pork. The administration has penalized steel and aluminum imports from allies such as Canada and Mexico, leading to retaliation against American-made products such as blue jeans, motorcycles and whiskey.
- Nationwide, the U.S. Chamber reported that $75 billion in U.S. exports will soon be subject to retaliatory tariffs. Many of the hardest hit states are those that backed Trump and feature top-tier Senate races in November.
- In North Dakota, Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp has seized on Republican challenger Kevin Cramer’s description of the tariff fallout as “hysteria.” Cramer blames China for the trade dispute that could affect as many as 111,000 jobs.
Read the full article here.
