President Trump's tariffs are hurting Massachusetts construction industry, lawmaker says
Massachusetts Congressman Stephen Lynch said that President Donald Trump's tariff war is concerning and having an adverse effect on the construction industry in his district, but that he believes the White House is beginning to reconsider its approach.
Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch is hitting out at the Trump administration, criticizing the president for his tariff war that he said is having an adverse effect on the construction industry in his district.
President Trump's tariffs
"Tariffs on 140 countries at the same time, treating Canada the same way we treat China was a terrible mistake," "I would have hoped for a balanced scheme. Instead, the president put in very onerous tariffs on some of our European allies, as well as smaller countries that probably couldn't withstand a 35% tariff."
In an interview on the Sunday edition of "Keller At Large," Lynch said he sees signs that the White House is "retrenching."
"With the market going down, with the strength of the dollar receding, I think he's a bit worried Treasury bills are not as desirable," Lynch said. "So he's seeing some fundamental changes there that are not good for even the medium term results that he's seeking."
How tariffs impact construction industry
Still Lynch, a former steelworker, said he remains very concerned about the uncertainty created by the tariff policies.
"I come out of the construction industry, so we've got a bunch of projects in my district that are ready to go environmentally, we've worked out the differences, zoning. The community's on board, and yet the developers are afraid to put a shovel in the ground because they don't know what steel is going to cost," Lynch said. "Is it going to cost 25% more than it is right now, especially with the tariffs on Canada, all of our lumber, steel, aluminum, aggregate concrete, all of that? So it's really huge uncertainty that's preventing a lot of these projects from going forward. And we're seeing high unemployment growing in the construction industry."
Tufts student in ICE custody
Lynch is also critical of the administration's policies toward foreign students who engage in political activity here, comparing the recent arrest of a 25-year-old Tufts University graduate student who had co-authored an op-ed article in the student newspaper critical of Israeli military action in Gaza to the actions of the Nazis during World War II.
"She broke no law," he said. "We have 80,000 foreign students in the city of Boston and Cambridge. Those families and families all over Europe can send their kids to the city of Boston because they feel that we're a safe community. We are a center of learning. We are a place of cultural and religious tolerance. And so what happened to [her] flies in the face of all of that. If you start snatching kids off the street who are here legally...and putting them in detention centers, shipping them 1,700 miles to Louisiana, if that's the way you're going to treat kids who come here, you know, our reputation will suffer greatly. And think about, there's over a million foreign students in this country right now going to school. We destroy all of that. Our reputation, our image in the world will decline very, very quickly because of one man."
Lynch also offered his analysis of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's performance in office and bid for a second term during the interview, which is available for viewing on demand here.
You can watch "Keller At Large" every Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. on WBZ-TV for timely interviews with newsmakers.
