Deluzio urges fellow Democrats to rethink stance on tariffs

A Democratic congressman from Western Pennsylvania has found some common ground — albeit, a small patch of it — with Republican President Donald Trump on the issue of tariffs.

In an op-ed published Friday in The New York Times, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, said members of his party should abandon their “anti-tariff absolutism” and look for ways to use “smart tariffs and other trade policies that will deliver good-paying jobs and restore America’s manufacturing leadership.”

Trump’s tariffs against Canada and Mexico went into effect Tuesday, with a 25% tax on most imports from the two countries excluding Canadian energy products, which were subject to 10% import duties. Also, the 10% tariff that Trump placed on Chinese imports in February was doubled to 20%.

By Thursday, the president had postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month.

The White House has insisted its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the taxes have also caused the stock market to sink and alarmed many U.S. consumers. In addition to his claims about fentanyl, Trump has insisted that the tariffs could be resolved by fixing the trade deficit.

In his op-ed, Deluzio said, “Mr. Trump’s tariff approach has been chaotic and inconsistent. There’s no doubt about that. But the answer isn’t to condemn tariffs across the board. That risks putting the Democrats even further out of touch with the hard-working people who used to be the lifeblood of the party — people like my constituents.”

Deluzio is in his second term representing the 17th Congressional District, which includes all of Beaver County and part of Allegheny County.

Deluzio said Democrats “should be highlighting how Mr. Trump’s scattershot threats, unanchored to any real industrial strategy, will not deliver on the goals of rebuilding American manufacturing, raising wages or rebalancing trade.”

Deluzio said tariffs are most effective “when used in a predictable and stable way — and the Trump administration’s approach has been anything but.”

“Mr. Trump’s chaotic tariff two-step — imposing, delaying, threatening and then again imposing tariffs, including on allies like Canada with whom we mainly have balanced trade — is bad business for America. Entrepreneurs ready to invest in production here sit on the sidelines, wondering where the tariff roller coaster will stop.”

The Associated Press contributed.