KY’s congressional delegation split on Trump’s tariffs. McConnell: ‘Tariffs are bad policy’
Not all of Kentucky’s Republicans in Congress are sold on President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs to escalate the country’s trade war.
In a largely symbolic rebuke, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul voted against Trump’s emergency declaration earlier this week to levy 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, with McConnell calling it a “tax on everyday working Americans.”
Rep. Morgan McGarvey, of Louisville and the delegation’s lone Democrat, also opposes Trump’s tariffs, while Reps. James Comer and Andy Barr support the tariffs.
Spokespeople for Reps. Hal Rogers, Thomas Massie and Brett Guthrie either did not respond to the Herald-Leader’s requests for comment, or did not provide answers to the newspaper’s questions by Friday afternoon.
Trump has vowed since the campaign trail to levy tariffs on foreign imports. He followed through with that promise Wednesday, issuing what he called “reciprocal tariffs,” slapping 10% minimum tax on imports from other countries beginning April 5.
Some countries have already responded with their own tariffs. China has since imposed a retaliatory 34% tax on all American imports.
Traders on Wall Street clearly don’t support Trump’s tariff plan. Late Friday, stock indices were limping to the closing bell, likely to their worst two-day decline since 2020.
“Tariffs drive up the cost of goods and services. They are a tax on everyday working Americans,” McConnell said in a statement Wednesday. “In Kentucky, broad-based tariffs could even have long-term consequences right in our backyard. The last thing we need is to pick fights with . . . friends.”
Paul agreed: “Tariffs are taxes and Americans are paying the price,” he posted on X early Friday morning. “Working families can’t afford this. It’s time to terminate the Trump tariffs—before it’s too late.”
From the Senate floor Wednesday, Paul said the U.S. Constitution prevents one person from choosing to raise taxes — “our Constitution doesn’t allow any one man or woman to raise taxes. It must be the body of Congress . . . Yet today we are here before the Senate because one person in our country wishes raise taxes. This is contrary to everything our country was founded upon.”
Paul added, “This isn’t about political party — I voted for and supported President Trump — but I don’t support the rule of one person.”
Paul and McConnell weren’t alone in their dissent.
McGarvey said he isn’t entirely critical of tariffs, but without a comprehensive strategy to then buttress American manufacturing, for instance, tariffs alone won’t work, he said.
“I want to bring more manufacturing jobs home, but tariffs don’t solve problems on their own,” McGarvey said in a statement.
“To work, they must be backed by a comprehensive plan. Donald Trump has not paired his overly broad, half-baked tariffs with any comprehensive strategy to return manufacturing jobs to the United States, and without one, these tariffs will only hurt working families and small businesses, while decimating Kentucky’s bourbon industry.”
Though some Kentuckians in Congress are planted firmly in their resistance of Trump’s tariffs, not all are.
President Trump’s “approach on tariffs is the right one . . . I stand with President Trump 100%,” Barr posted to X on Wednesday.
He called the president’s actions “a magnet for more investment in the United States, and by holding other nations accountable for their unfair and protectionist trade practices, the President’s policy will lead to more, not less, market access and free trade with Canada and many other nations. Reciprocity means America will no longer be ripped off.”
Comer, too, signaled tariffs are the right move.
“Previous administrations enacted policies that encouraged American companies to offshore critical manufacturing, which not only cost us good-paying jobs but also created national security problems,” he said in a Friday statement.
“I support President Trump’s America First efforts to reverse course and ensure that America has a competitive advantage in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, food and other products critical to our national security.”
Massie did not provide a response by Friday afternoon as to whether he supports Trump’s tariffs. But in a November post to X, he said, “for most of our country’s history, the federal government was funded by tariffs, there was no income tax, the budget was (mostly) balanced, and federal spending was less than 10% of GDP,” or gross domestic product.
Though Guthrie also didn’t respond to the Herald-Leader Friday, he told constituents in Owensboro last month that he understands the agricultural, automotive and bourbon industries are “concerned about tariffs.”
Guthrie said his ideal policy would be reciprocal tariffs: “If a country tariffs our products, we should have an equal tariff,” the Owensboro Times reported. “If they drop theirs, we drop ours. I think President Trump’s trying to get us to a level playing field.”
But whether or not Trump’s tariffs will eventually level the playing field, or give the country a competitive manufacturing advantage, ignores the immediate spike in costs for goods that will fall on Kentucky’s working families, McConnell and Paul said.
“Tariffs don’t punish foreign governments. They punish American families,” Paul said. “When we tax imports, we raise the price of everything—from groceries to smartphones to washing machines to prescription drugs.”
McConnell agreed.
“One estimate suggests the president’s tariffs could cost the average Kentuckian up to $1,200 each year,” he said.
“As I have always warned, tariffs are bad policy, and trade wars with our partners hurt working people most.”
This story may be updated.
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 3:22 PM.
