Congressional Delegation Split on President’s Tariffs

Oklahoma congressman Markwayne Mullin is the lone Oklahoma member of the U.S. House who openly supports the President’s controversial move to increase tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the  European Union, Canada and Mexico.

In a weekend statement, the Republican Representative said, “President Trump is doing exactly what he said he would—putting America first and bringing other countries back to the negotiating table.”

Mullin said countries have taken advantage of the U.S. relaxed trade deals for years.

“Enough is enough. Companies inside the U.S. need to be able to do business in other countries, just like other countries come to do business inside our country.”

He said by imposing the tariffs, the President is bringing those countries back to the negotiation table.

Earlier in the year, Rep. Frank Lucas suggested it was the wrong thing for President Trump to do because it will hurt the farming community.

“I cannot personally be involved in something that would create an all-out trade war because I have to be able to sell my wheat, my cattle, my pork, my oil, my gas into the world markets,” he said.

In one interview, he called the tariff a “shotgun approach” to a topic that required more care.

“Whether it’s wheat, whether it’s beef—we have to keep the markets open,” added Lucas.

Rep. Steve Lucas of Oklahoma City also questioned the President’s decision, stating, “Europe is not the problem. So we’ve got to ask, do we want to make it a problem?”

Instead of tariffs on Europe and Canada, he suggested that tariffs should be targeted against China.