AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar sent a message to President Donald Trump on Monday as the president threatens tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China.
On Monday, the congressmen gathered outside of the H-E-B on Riverside Drive to point out the impacts the tariffs could have on everyday Texans.
“[President Trump] thinks with just an imperial command, he can wreak this kind of havoc – and he is,” said Doggett.
Doggett and Casar primarily pointed to the price of groceries and the ability to buy things like coffee or avocados.
“To do everything we can to stop these grocery price increases that Donald Trump is calling for, to stop this billionaire tax cut, to stop the unconstitutional attacks against our norms and against our country from the administration,” said Casar.
A 10% tariff on Chinese goods is expected to take effect on Tuesday, while a 25% tariff was temporarily put on pause on Mexico and Canada by the president. Trump reached agreements with both the Mexican president and Canadian prime minister.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he’s working on a deal with the president to increase resources along the northern border to help stop the flow of fentanyl. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to reinforce the southern border with 10,000 Mexican National Guard troops to stop the flow of what she called high-powered weapons coming into Mexico.
Casar also took aim at Elon Musk. Musk announced he and the president are moving to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“I believe that it is critical for us to fire Elon Musk and use every tool at our disposal to no longer have a billionaire basically in charge of the white House and in many ways in charge of Donald Trump himself,” said Casar.
The president of the Texas Farm Bureau, Russell Boening, said although the group has concerns over the tariffs, he trusts the Trump administration will protect the interests of ranch and farm families.
“We’ve supported the Trump administration when it comes to [tariffs] because we know that it’s quite often a negotiating tool. Quite often in the long run, it actually improves our trade relations,” said Boening.
Boening said the bureau is taking the wait-and-see approach but is aware that there will be impacts nonetheless.
“We import things like seeds and fertilizers, especially fertilizers from those countries, and whenever the tariff is imposed, then it’s going to drive the price of the product,” said Boening.
He added, “We appreciate the fact that there is a pause in the ones going to Mexico, a 30-day pause, cooling-off period, and a negotiation time. That’s why I trust that in the long run we’ll work through these things.”