Today, on the anniversary of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, more than twenty state legislators from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Texas released a letter calling on Trump to end those tariffs, refund every penny to the American people, and prioritize affordability for working families.
The letter, first published by American Journal News, outlines the timeline of Trump’s tariff scheme, much of which was found to be illegal by the Supreme Court. Since their inception, the tariffs have acted as an additional tax on working families, delivering the exact opposite of what Trump and his administration promised. “Liberation Day” did nothing more than liberate millions of Americans from their savings, their jobs, and their economic security. In the last year, the U.S. has lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs, American job creation has nearly flatlined, the economy has slowed to a crawl, and the average household has paid over $1,700 in tariff taxes.
In short, the President’s job-killing, price-spiking tariffs have been an unmitigated disaster. In the letter, the state legislators call out Trump for this litany of broken promises on the economy, jobs, and affordability:
“You campaigned on ending inflation on day one. Prices are up. You promised to bring back manufacturing jobs. We’ve lost hundreds of thousands of jobs since your announcement. You promised tariffs would make America prosperous. The economy has slowed to its weakest growth in years. And now, the Supreme Court has rightfully struck down many of your tariffs as an illegal tax on working families.”
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump raised the global tariff rate to 10%, sowing economic chaos across the globe and again forcing Americans to dig deeper to cover basic necessities. In the midst of an unprecedented affordability crisis, working families need room to breathe, not to be suffocated by more tariff taxes.
A full copy of the letter can be found here. The names of those signing can be found below.
Sen. Cathy Kipp, Colorado
Sen. Janice Marchman, Colorado
Sen. Graciela Guzman, Illinois
Sen. Art Staed, Iowa
Rep. Ken Croken, Iowa
Del. Ashanti Martinez, Maryland
Del. Adrian Boafo, Maryland
Rep. Noah Arbit, Michigan
Sen. Liz Boldon, Minnesota
Rep. Jessica LaMontagne, New Hampshire
Rep. Timothy Horrigan, New Hampshire
Rep. Arvind Venkat, Pennsylvania
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, Texas
Rep. Gene Wu, Texas
Rep. Rafael Anchía, Texas
Rep. Erin Zwiener, Texas
Rep. Mihaela Plesa, Texas
Rep. Alma Allen, Texas
Rep. Ron Reynolds, Texas
Rep. Charlene Ward Johnson, Texas
Rep. Vikki Goodwin, Texas
Rep. Linda Garcia, Texas
Rep. John Bucy III, Texas
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