Some Republicans ask for tariff exemptions and express concern over Trump trade war [View all]

Source: NBC News

March 31, 2025, 10:11 PM EDT / Updated April 1, 2025, 11:26 AM EDT


A number of congressional Republicans are publicly voicing concern over the potential for a prolonged trade war and its effect on American farmers as President Donald Trump prepares to announce a new wave of tariffs. Trump is expected to impose duties as early as Wednesday on imports from all countries in a move that could hit the agriculture community particularly hard. Several GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill are seeking last-minute carveouts to blunt the impact of those tariffs.

House Agriculture Committee chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., told NBC News that he has asked the White House to exempt certain goods that are important to the U.S. agricultural industry, such as fertilizer and peat moss. “I’ve kind of pointed out the things that I’m hoping" will be excluded, he said. “I talk with anybody who will listen to me. ... They’ve been really good about input.”

Thompson also said he hopes Congress won’t need to bail out farmers with an emergency aid package, as it did during the first Trump administration. But, he said, “we’ll be prepared to do that” again if needed. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said exemptions for specific goods are likely to be needed. “The only thing I can tell you right now is on potash,” Grassley said when he was asked about Trump’s tariffs. Citing the U.S. reliance on Canada for much of its potash, Grassley said “we’ll have to ask for” an exemption.

House Appropriations Committee chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., indicated a divide between the farming and non-farming communities. He said farmers in his state "export a lot," so they have concerns around retaliatory tariffs. Those outside the agricultural community, however, are "mostly in favor" of the tariffs, which he said has prompted him to take a "wait and see" approach.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-ask-tariff-exemptions-express-concern-trump-trade-war-rcna198987