Lindsey Graham: Trump’s Tariffs ‘Huge Mistake,’ ‘Punishing the American Consumer’

Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on aluminum and steel was a “huge mistake,” because it was “punishing the American consumer.”

Graham said, “Here is what I would tell the president, the reason our steel industry has been decimated is because of China jump dumping. China produce more steel than the world consumes for several years in a row. China is your problem Mr. president. Taxing european car imports hurts BMW because they can do the same thing to us.”

He added, “You are letting China off the hook. China wins when we fight with Europe. China wins when the American consumer has higher prices because of tariffs that doesn’t affect Chinese behavior. You want to affect China get back into the Transpacific Partnership, be present in Asia. Hit them on intellectual property theft. Hit China on currency manipulation. Hit them about steel dumping. China is winning and we’re losing with this tariff. You’re letting China off the hook. You’re punishing the American consumer and our allies. You are making a huge mistake here. Go after China not the rest of the world.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN