On Thursday, Republican Senator Ron Johnson appeared in an interview with “PBS NewsHour” and stated that he will be speaking with President Donald Trump about the problems manufacturers could face in regards to tariffs on imported products that are no longer made in the United States. He declared that “it’s going to take a long time to onshore some of those products. So, we’ll certainly be talking to the president as this thing continues to drag out in terms of exemptions to make sure that businesses can survive.”
PBS co-host Amna Nawaz asked, “[W]hen you say the pain level, who’s going to feel that? What industries and sectors are you most worried about in your home state?”
Johnson replied, “Well, again, manufacturers that export, manufacturers that import products that aren’t, for example, made in America anymore, it’s going to take a long time to onshore some of those products. So, we’ll certainly be talking to the president as this thing continues to drag out in terms of exemptions to make sure that businesses can survive.”
Nawaz pressed, “And if there aren’t exemptions…for the companies that are going to have to bear some short-term pain, would you suggest that the government come up with some kind of subsidies or something to help mitigate some of that in the short term?”
Johnson answered, “Subsidies are very difficult to design, to really allocate fairly. I know President Trump, there will be revenue brought in. He certainly allocated that amongst farmers in the first round of increasing tariffs in his first administration. So, my guess is that might be one of the solutions they might have for some of the dislocations and some of the pain.”
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