U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) teamed up with a bicameral, bipartisan congressional group from Washington State to decry President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
The proposed tariffs stand to negatively impact Washington State’s exporters and economy, the lawmakers wrote in a June 11 letter sent to United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, as importers already have retaliated in response.
On April 2, for example, China responded to the Section 232 tariffs with a 15 percent tariff on several U.S. items, including apples, pears, cherries, and wine, wrote the 11 members of Congress in their letter, which included the signatures of U.S. Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), who chairs the U.S. House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, and U.S. Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler (R-WA), among others.
“For Pacific Northwest cherries, China is the number one export destination, with more than ten percent of last year’s crop valued at approximately $130 million having been shipped to China,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers are particularly concerned now about the timing. “With cherry harvest beginning in the Pacific Northwest, time is of the essence for our growers,” they told the USTR.
Additionally, the members of Congress said they’ve heard increasing concerns from their constituents “about the impact of retaliatory actions by our trading partners on Washington communities stemming from the imposition of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum.”
Such retaliatory actions, they wrote, would harm Washington’s thriving agricultural industry, as well as workers, families and small businesses across the state.
Therefore, they’ve urged that the Trump administration prioritize the negotiation of a solution “that shields our specialty crop growers from retaliatory actions in the form of tariffs or other barriers to trade.”