WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobbying group and customarily a close ally of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party, is launching a campaign on Monday to oppose Trump’s trade tariff policies.
The new campaign, detailed first to Reuters, will provide an analysis of the financial hit each U.S. state stands take from potential retaliation to Trump’s tariffs. It argues that Trump is risking a global trade war that will hit the wallets of U.S. consumers.
For example, the Chamber’s report finds that $3.9 billion worth of exports from Texas could be targeted by retaliatory tariffs, including $1.6 billion from Mexico and $1.4 billion from China. Texas sends $321 million in meat exports to Mexico each year that could be affected. It exports $494 million in grain sorghum to China.
The Chamber also is expected to spend millions of dollars on the midterm elections this year in an effort to help elect like-minded candidates who back free trade, immigration and reduced taxes. It has already backed candidates in Republican primaries, who share those goals.
With some of America’s closest trading partners imposing retaliatory measures, Trump’s approach to tariffs has unsettled financial markets and strained relations between the White House and the Chamber.
“The administration is threatening to undermine the economic progress it worked so hard to achieve,” said Chamber President Tom Donohue in a statement to Reuters. “We should seek free and fair trade, but this is just not the way to do it.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment responding to the Chamber.
The Chamber, which has 3 million members, historically has worked closely with Republican presidents and had praised Trump for signing corporate tax cuts in December. But mounting trade tensions
