Danielle Kaeding
Wisconsin Public Radio
Republican U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy is calling retaliatory tariffs from countries like Europe, Canada and China "economic terrorism."
Duffy made the comment in an interview with Fox News this week after President Donald Trump announced $12 billion in aid for farmers hurt by tariffs.
"We knew that Europe, China, Canada and Mexico would go after American ag. That’s how they try to take us down. I think this is economic terrorism in a way," said Duffy. "They want to shock us into submission by going after our ag instead of saying, 'You know what? Let’s reduce barriers, let’s make this free and fair and may the best producer with the lowest cost with the best product actually win.' They can’t do that because they know we’ll beat them so they want to protect their products."
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Duffy said a lot of Wisconsin farmers are Trump supporters, but they’re nervous because they don’t know how long they can weather the trade battle.
"If you see farmers starting to lose their farms, those one-time Trump supporters will turn on a dime and they will be in opposition to him," said Duffy. "The president has to watch that as he’s negotiating and navigating trade deals."
Other Republican lawmakers have criticized the president’s plan, including Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2018, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board. Find more WPR news on KUWS-FM 91.3 or wpr.org .
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