Kaine is worried about Trump tariffs

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va., spent the last few days meeting with residents across Southwest Virginia. At each stop during his four-day trip, a familiar topic of concern came up.

“What I’m hearing are concerns about the economy, the markets are kind of going nuts and the tariff situation is really challenging,” Kaine said. “So I would say the number one issue that I’m hearing on this trip is the combination of the tariffs and the uncertainty.”

Kaine said businesses are looking for stability and a strong economy, not trade wars and tariffs. He said some companies are holding off on decisions until they know what is going to happen with the tariffs — pointing to President Donald Trump’s tendency to announce, then suspend for 90 days and then once again announce new tariffs.

“Look the economy wasn’t perfect in 2023, but it was strong to the rest of the world,” Kaine, a former governor of Virginia who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2012, said. “Ninety days in bluntly this has been a very difficult time for the economy. And the second thing I’m hearing is all of the federal funding cuts.”

Kaine said tariffs are a tool that can be used against an adversary or even a friend if they have placed a barrier in your way that is an unacceptable barrier. However, imposing tariffs across the board on everybody — including allies — is a costly mistake, according to Kaine.

“So it increases the cost of goods everyone buys,” Kaine said of tariffs. “Everything goes up.”

The concern about tariffs is so great that four Republicans recently joined Kaine in passing legislation in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate to dissolve Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada.

The measure passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 51-48 with Republicans Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, both of Kentucky, backing the measure along with Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

Kaine admits the bill will face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House.

Still he welcomes the Republican support he garnered in the Senate, adding that tariffs make it harder for economic success.

“That is what tariffs do. They create inflation, hurt businesses and impact national security,” Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said. “If you are going to do tariffs do them strategically.”

When he launched his across the board tariffs, Trump labeled the event as “Liberation Day” for the United States. The Republican president imposed a 10% tariff on essentially all imports, with steeper rates for major trade partners, according to the Associated Press. Trump said the move was in defense of American manufacturing, which he said had been disadvantaged by years of unfair tradition relationships.

Kaine said Trump’s more recent threats to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has caused further uncertainty in the market. Trump later walked back those statements saying he would not fire Powell, although he remains critical of him.

Kaine, who was the 2016 Democratic nominee for vice president with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, believes Trump is starting to worry about the stock market.

“He’s starting to get spooked by the bond market,” Kaine said. “He had a solid economy compared to the rest of the world on inauguration day. I kind of have a feeling you are going to see him walk back a number of things.”

The across-the-board federal job cuts from DOGE — or the Department of Governmental Efficiency that is being led by presidential appointee Elon Musk — also is creating uncertainty across the nation, and in the state of Virginia in particular, according to Kaine.

Kaine said all of the DOGE cuts are being done without the approval of the U.S. Congress, adding that those budget cuts are not only impacting federal employees in Northern Virginia, but also are having a trickle down effect on Southwest Virginia.

“I heard it this morning in Richlands,” Kaine said in response to a roundtable gathering Wednesday in Tazewell County. “Because some of what they are doing is in tandem with the Virginia Department of Health. And about 10 days ago there was an announcement of huge cuts to the Virginia Department of Health.”

Kaine said DOGE also has proposed the closure of 35 Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) field offices. Nearly half of those offices are located in the Appalachian coalfields including in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.

“I’m really nervous about it,” Kaine said of the impact of the DOGE cuts on Virginia. “The two regions that get hit the hardest are Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. It’s having a significant impact here.”

During his four-day tour of Southwest Virginia, Kaine participated in round table discussions both in Richlands and Wytheville. He also visited Blacksburgs, Danville, Verona and other areas.

While in Richlands, Kaine participated in a discussion with members of the Rengagement Opportunities and Pathways to Employment Success (ROPES) program, which supports individuals in substance use recovery with resources to get jobs. Kaine said he recently introduced his bipartisan Providing Empathetic and Effective Recovery (PEER) Support Act in the U.S. Senate to support mental health and substance use disorder recovery.

Kaine said he was impressed by what he heard and learned during the forum in Richlands.

“Some sad stories, but more inspirational than sad,” he said. “The sad parts were just the number of years people had been incarcerated and the number of years they had to deal with addiction.”

Kaine said members of the ROPES program also had kind words to say about the probation officers in Tazewell County.

“They say the probation officers in Tazewell County want you to succeed and the person who told that story said not every probation officer in every community are like that,” Kaine said.

Kaine also participated in a roundtable discussion in Wytheville with senior citizens and health care providers on the importance of protecting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Kaine argues that one of the proposed changes being sought by Republicans who currently control both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate in addition to the White House, is a reduction in the federal cost share of Medicaid expansion, a move which he says would put more than 600,000 Virginians at risk of losing their health care.

However, Trump and Republicans have repeatedly argued that they have no intentions of cutting Social Security or Medicare.

Kaine also was asked about the upcoming gubernatorial election in Virginia, and whether tariffs and DOGE cuts could have an impact on it.

Four years ago Republicans swept all of the statewide offices with the election of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, and Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares. Two years later Democrats regained majority control of the Virginia General Assembly.

Sears is running for governor on the Republican ticket and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is the Democratic nominee. In Virginia, a candidate can only serve as governor for a single term, so Youngkin can’t seek re-election. He has not yet announced what his future plans will be. Some have speculated that Youngkin may challenge U.S. Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., in 2026. Kaine said Warner is preparing for a high profile challenger whether that be Youngkin or someone else.

Kaine, who is backing Spanberger for governor, said he believes the economic uncertainty Trump’s tariffs are having on the economy, and the impact of the DOGE cuts on the federal workforce, will hurt Republican chances of winning again in Virginia this November.

Many of the federal workers who saw their jobs eliminated by DOGE live in Northern Virginia.

“I think the massive cuts are going to help Abigail,” Kaine said, adding that Sears to date has not been critical of Trump and the DOGE cuts.