Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) came out swinging at President Donald Trump‘s tariff plans this weekend, saying Americans need a “rational and well-thought-out trade policy, not arbitrary actions from the White House.”
Sanders was especially critical of Trump’s plan to start a trade war with Canada, a longtime ally and close U.S. trade partner — as well as Vermont’s neighbor. Trump claims the U.S. virtually subsidizes the Canadian economy and sees the tariffs as part of an America First economic restructuring. Sanders believes that tariffs are an unnecessary weapon in a war that needn’t be waged.
Sanders also contends that the tariffs deliberately break one of Trump’s top campaign promises: to swiftly bring down the cost of everyday goods for the average American family. Trump said in August: “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.”
That’s not happened Sanders says, and it’s about to get worse. “Economists estimate that these tariffs will increase costs for the average American family by as much as $1,200 a year,” the Senator says.
Sanders said this weekend that while the Trump tariffs on Canada and Mexico are “most likely illegal,” they are also unequivocally “most definitely harmful.”
Notably, Sanders’s claim is not in opposition to Trump’s own assessment of his tariff move, which Trump admitted will cause Americans “pain.”
(Note: Sanders could have been referring to economists employed by the American financial giant Goldman Sachs, which wrote optimistically to its investors on Inauguration Day that Trump’s tariff talk was mainly bluster. “Despite Trump’s comments,” Goldman wrote, “we continue to believe the odds of a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico are low (20%).” Oops.)
Trump’s unilateral decision to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico is most likely illegal and most definitely harmful.
Economists estimate that these will increase costs for the average American family by as much as $1,200 a year.
We need to drive prices DOWN, not UP.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 2, 2025
Trump campaigned effectively on many issues where Democrats were shown to be vulnerable, but he did not promise his rally crowds that his first moves in the Oval Office would very purposefully cause them “pain.” Instead he promised to relieve their pain, especially economically.
The results of the election show that he was taken at his word by voters: Far more important to voters in exit polls than culture war issues like transgender rights and birth control access were the two main tentpoles of Trump’s electoral success: 1) his promise to reverse immigration trends and 2) his promise to bring down grocery prices.
Both promises were based on easing economic hardships for working class and middle class voters. Trump’s promise to bring down grocery prices appealed broadly those still feeling the impact of post-Covid inflation during the Biden administration. And though part of the GOP narrative about illegal immigration focused on safety threats allegedly posed by the migrants, the other key aspect of the “bad migrant” narrative was that the newcomers were taking jobs from American citizens.