Sen. Paul points to business-sector resistance to Trump's tariffs in
solidly red Kentucky
[May 13, 2025]
By BRUCE SCHREINER
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — In solidly Republican Kentucky, resistance to
President Donald Trump's trade wars has sprung up from a cross-section
of key business sectors, GOP Sen. Rand Paul said Monday.
Paul said he's heard concerns from agriculture, the auto sector, bourbon
production, home building and package shipping in response to Trump's
aggressive use of tariffs. Paul — among the few GOP senators willing to
challenge Trump on tariffs — met with a group of Louisville business
leaders on Monday.
"Virtually every business that I have met in Kentucky has said they’re
not excited about having tariffs and that international trade has been
good for their company and good for the consumer by bringing lower
prices,” the libertarian-leaning Paul told reporters afterward.
Paul welcomed the sudden de-escalation of the trade conflict between the
U.S. and China, when the two global economic powerhouses agreed Monday
to slash their massive recent tariffs. The 90-day truce creates time for
U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement.
As for prospects of a longer-term deal, the senator said: "We’ll see how
it shakes out.”
“Anything we can do to bring down tariffs is good,” Paul said. “I said
I’ll be the first person to compliment President Trump if the end of
this shakes out and in six months, all the tariffs are lower and there’s
more trade. I’m perfectly willing and big enough to say: ‘Good job, Mr.
President.’”
Trump used tariffs in his first term and has been even more aggressive
and unpredictable about imposing them in his second. He’s slapped a 10%
tariff on a myriad of countries, blowing up the rules that had governed
global trade for decades.
Trump dominated Kentucky in each presidential election since 2016, but
the GOP lawmakers willing to speak out against his trade wars include
Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Trump's tariffs forged a rare bipartisan alliance in Kentucky among the
senators and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. They raised concerns that
trade wars would drive up prices for consumers and damage key business
sectors, including the bourbon industry. In Canada, some liquor stores
cleared American spirits from their shelves amid trade acrimony and
Trump’s calls to make Canada the 51st state.
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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during the Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on the nomination of Martin
Makary to serve as Commissioner of Food and Drugs at the Department
of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill Thursday, March 6,
2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)
Trump views tariffs as an all-purpose economic tool that can raise
money for the U.S. Treasury, protect American industries, lure
factories to the United States and pressure other countries to bend
to his will, even on issues such as immigration and drug
trafficking.
Paul, who ran for president in 2016, has called for Congress to
reassert its authority on the issue.
“Tariffs are taxes, and the power to tax belongs to Congress — not
the president," Paul said in a release last month. “Our Founders
were clear: tax policy should never rest in the hands of one
person.”
Asked Monday if he trusts the president's tactics on trade, Paul
replied: "I would prefer we weren’t putting tariffs on.”
Paul also raised concerns about the on-again, off-again nature of
Trump's tariff policies, noting that “businesses like certainty.”
“It’s really why most of us who believe in the free market think
that government shouldn’t be involved in so many decisions," he
said. “These are the decisions that should be left to the
marketplace to determine prices."
Among the business leaders who met with Paul on Monday was Sarah
Davasher-Wisdom, CEO of Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber
of commerce in Kentucky's largest city. Participants updated the
senator on what impacts the tariffs are having on their businesses,
she told reporters.
“The tariffs are creating a lot of uncertainty for businesses, and
that makes it very difficult to operate. And it’s driving up
prices,” she said. “And the uncertainty itself is making it
difficult for businesses to plan capital expenditures, making it
difficult for them to plan out 90 days, 120 days.”
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