Trump’s tariffs face a new threat: Republicans

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In the two years since US President Donald Trump unveiled a slew of aggressive tariffs on America's global trading partners, the prospect of stock market backlash has been the…

In the two years since US President Donald Trump unveiled a slew of aggressive tariffs on America's global trading partners, the prospect of stock market backlash has been the biggest restraint on his agenda. The midterms may have just changed that.

Despite a steady drumbeat of polls showing Americans' disdain for Trump's tariffs, Republican lawmakers largely avoided publicly challenging the president's trade agenda, seeing the political fallout from standing in his way as too great. But last week's election results suggest there may also be a steep political price for that loyalty.

Democrats notched significant victories at the polls, flipping seats in historically Republican states where voters have been hit hard by Trump's tariffs, from agriculture-heavy states like Iowa and Kansas to northern border states such as Maine and Michigan.

"Many Republicans were kind of whistling by the political graveyard by ignoring the tariff issue, but now it's come front and centre," Brian Darling, a Republican strategist and former counsel to Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, said. "Republicans are going to have to take a hard look in the mirror and take a second look at their position on tariffs."

Opposition to tariffs has traditionally been a cornerstone of Republican economic policy, while Democrats have more often backed tariffs as a way to protect domestic industries and workers, particularly unionised ones. That made Trump's sweeping use of tariffs, a cornerstone of his overarching agenda, a particularly uncomfortable departure for some Republicans, particularly those up for re-election who feared defeat in primaries if they crossed Trump.

While one of Trump's stated goals in imposing higher tariffs was to boost US-based employment, many employers have been reluctant to take on more workers, given the uncertain trade environment with Trump often altering policies.

The impact on prices, by contrast, has been more direct.

Nationally, two-thirds of voters said Trump's tariffs…

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