The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest business and lobbying group in the United States, attacked president Donald Trump for imposing tariffs on practically all of the country's major trading partners (including China), and said these destructive taxes will ignite a trade war that will cripple economic growth. It's also the world's largest business organization.
"The administration is threatening to undermine the economic progress it worked so hard to achieve," said president Tom Donohue. "We should seek free and fair trade, but this is just not the way to do it."
The chamber also said it had launched a nationwide campaign to oppose Trump's trade tariff policies. It vowed to spend millions of dollars ahead of the November mid-term elections to help candidates that support free trade instead of Trump's protectionist and anti-trade policies.
What makes the surprising opposition of the chamber dangerous to Trump and the Republican Party is the chamber is traditionally Republican and was a force in getting Trump elected president in 2016. Supporting candidates that oppose Trump's protectionism places the chamber squarely against the president in November and weakens the GOP's bid to escape a massive defeat at the polls.
Analysts noted the chamber's bitter criticism of Trump is a powerful effort to force Trump to listen to reason. The chamber's declaration of war on Trump is the most serious rift to appear between Washington and the business community, which leans Republican.
Trump's unwanted tariffs will hit China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU) starting July 6. The administration claims these moves are necessary to protect U.S. national security.
The chamber analyzed the state-by-state impact of Trump's tariffs on practically all its major trading partners and found that that Trump's global trade war will make it harder for U.S. consumers to afford many goods and commodities.
The chamber's analysis also confirms residents of the U.S. states that elected Trump will be the hardest hit by the retaliatory tariffs. It revealed that Texas will see $3.9 billion worth of exports affected by retaliatory tariffs; Tennessee's exports worth $1.4 billion will suffer while South Carolina will see $3 billion of its exports placed in jeopardy.
