During a Sunday NewsNation interview, Sen. Ron Johnson questioned President Donald Trump’s tariff policy, saying he wanted to know the commander in chief’s “endgame.”
“One thing I learned in the private sector is that unpredictability can work well in negotiations, but businesses prefer certainty,” the Wisconsin Republican said on “The Hill Sunday.”
“They seek stability. They don’t enjoy seeing volatility,” he added. “I’ve been wondering, what is the endgame here? “What is the strategy?”
Johnson, a conservative three-term congressman, is a dependable supporter of Trump. His comments came only days after Trump temporarily postponed higher “reciprocal” tariffs on certain countries.
For the time being, most countries will continue to be subject to Trump’s 10% baseline tariff. Meanwhile, the United States continues to wage an increasing trade battle with China.
Trump declared late Friday that he would exempt numerous electronic products from China tariffs, only to confirm on Sunday that separate taxes on tech products would be imposed in the future.
Trump’s quick tariff rate changes have caused volatility in the stock and bond markets, and a number of analysts have expressed concerns about the administration’s trade policy.
Johnson serves on both the Senate’s Budget and Finance Committees. He also serves on the International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness Subcommittee.
During his interview on Sunday, Johnson portrayed himself as a “unabashed free trader.”
“From my standpoint, I think trade is good,” he told me. “You obtain goods from people that have a comparative advantage of producing those particular goods, and you sell them things where we have the comparative advantage.”
Johnson did, however, say that tariffs can be advantageous in some cases.
“I can understand that there could be some good uses for tariffs,” he told me. “President Trump has proven that, for example, when he threatened Mexico with tariffs if they wouldn’t cooperate with ‘Remain in Mexico.’ That helped secure the border.”
“So there’s certainly a use for it, but tariffs are a double-edged sword and a pretty blunt instrument,” she said.
Johnson stated that he did not want to employ tariffs to increase federal revenue.
“You raise revenue by growing your economy, having a simplified and rational tax system that incentivizes economic growth — not just slapping on higher tax rates or engaging in a massive trade war that obviously has disrupted and scared the markets,” he told reporters.