Sen. Ted Cruz pushes for low tariffs on call with President Trump, he says
When it comes to controversial tariffs, Sen. Ted Cruz said President Donald Trump could go down two very different paths.
"I think we face a fork in the road," Cruz said.
Striking deals on tariffs
In an interview on CBS News Texas Eye On Politics, Cruz said he prefers the first path: striking deals with countries on tariffs, a tax paid for by companies importing goods from outside the U.S., that experts say are passed onto the consumer.
"President Trump, if he negotiates lower tariff rates with all our trading partners, that will be a historic win for Texas and the whole country," Cruz said. "So I am urging him to energetically go down that road and that would be a massive economic victory President Trump could deliver."
Tariff rates as a long-term policy
The second path Mr. Trump could go down, Cruz said, would be keeping tariffs at high rates as a long-term policy.
"That outcome, that path, would be a disaster. That would be bad for Texas, bad for America," said Cruz. "So, what I'm urging the president is go down path number one, don't go down path number two."
Cruz said that several weeks ago, he and five other Senators were on a late-night phone call with the president that went on for more than an hour and past midnight.
"I got to say, it was a pretty chippy call," Cruz said. "He was arguing back. When you have a policy disagreement with the president, he swings back at you. At the end of the call, we weren't sure how it went."
The next day, he said the president announced a pause on his retaliatory tariffs for three months, prompting the financial markets to take off, after experiencing steep declines.
"My hope is 30-60-90 days from now, global tariff levels across the world are dramatically lower," said Cruz.
Rep. Johnson critical of Trump's tariff policy
U.S. Rep.Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, criticized the president's tariff policy.
"It's just reckless and irresponsible. It's erratic and unpredictable," said Johnson.
In an interview with CBS News Texas Eye On Politics, Johnson said that as a result, the tariffs have caused widespread uncertainty among business owners in North Texas and across the country.
"That's why we've seen so many companies threatening to lay off folks, halting orders, shopping," said Johnson. :We've seen a tank in the stock market, the unpredictability and the recklessness by which Trump is proceeding down. This tariff plan is really causing havoc on the markets."
Johnson said that she believes Congress should take a more active role in tariff policy so that the president doesn't have all the power. Congress gave up that authority to the president decades ago.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump warned lawmakers on Capitol Hill that he would veto a Senate resolution that ends his emergency declaration on tariffs.
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