Tariff Impact Should Be Measured in 'Months and Years': Rep. Fallon (R-TX)

Republican Representative Pat Fallon of Texas said other nations seeking trade deals with the US will show that the president's tariffs are working.

Republican senators expressed anxiety over the potential economic toll of Donald Trump’s global tariffs and pressed his trade representative for more clarity on the president’s objectives in the trade conflict.

“Whose throat do I get to choke if this turns out to be wrong?” Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina asked Tuesday as US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer testified before the Senate Finance Committee.

Tillis, who faces a competitive reelection in 2026, said the Trump administration has about a year to show results to make up for financial dislocations.

“I wish you well, but I am skeptical,” Tillis said.

Tillis’ comments were the most pointed from Republicans during a hearing in which Democratic senators aggressively rebuked Greer for Trump’s tariffs.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said he’ll force a vote on repealing the sweeping global tariffs, testing political support for the president’s trade war. A similar earlier effort targeting tariffs on Canada received support from four Republicans.

Other Republican senators expressed concern about potential economic harm to their constituents even as they offered support for the goal of “fairer” international trade arrangements and avoided direct criticism of Trump.

“I hope we can avoid an all-out trade war,” Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana, a close Trump ally, said. “A trade war will mean higher prices for the American consumer.”

Still, Daines praised Trump’s “bold leadership” in confronting other nations to seek trade arrangements that improve prospects for US exporters.

Another Trump supporter in the Senate already raised an alarm that the global tariff increases would damage the party in next year’s congressional elections, saying Republicans are risking a “bloodbath.”

Senator Ted Cruz, an uber-conservative ally of the president, said the tariffs “would destroy jobs here at home and do real damage to the US economy if we had tariffs everywhere,” on his podcast released Friday.

Other Republicans on Capitol Hill also have pushed to regain more congressional authority over import taxes since Trump announced the tariffs last week.

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and six other Republicans introduced a measure that would require Congress to review and approve most tariffs within 60 days. The White House said the president would veto Grassley’s measure if it passes.

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