Rep. Dingell: “It’s been a year of rising costs for working families. It’s been a year of manufacturing job losses and financial blows to American small businesses.”
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06), Michigan State Representative Jason Morgan, Pennsylvania State Representative Arvind Venkat, MD, and Cost Coalition Senior Communications Adviser Terry Holt participated in a press call hosted by Defend America Action to discuss Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” anniversary, and how his tariff regime has failed American workers, businesses, and families on every front.
Earlier today, Defend America Action released a new report highlighting how Trump’s tariffs have acted as an additional tax on working families, delivering the exact opposite of what Trump and his administration promised. In the last year, the U.S. has lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs, overall job creation has nearly flatlined, the economy has slowed to a crawl, and the average household has paid over $1,700 in tariff taxes.
“We are one year into President Trump’s tariffs regime, and it’s been a year of rising costs for working families. It’s been a year of manufacturing job losses and financial blows to American small businesses,” said U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell. “Let me be really clear: what we have seen the last year is nothing but total, utter chaos. Since President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day,’ we have lost 89,000 manufacturing jobs, 125,000 transportation and warehouse jobs, and factory construction has dropped 11%.”
“These tariffs are a tax on working people. They’re a tax on working families. About 96% of the cost has been paid here at home by American families, and that financial burden adds up,” said Representative Jason Morgan. “The average household has already paid over $1,700 because of these tariffs, which marks the largest tax increase in decades. And it’s not over: families are on track to pay hundreds more this year, potentially thousands, if Trump is successful.”
“I hear every day when speaking with my constituents, my neighbors, that they can’t make ends meet. The cost of food, housing, and utilities has gone up, and they can’t afford health care either. All of this ties back to this terrible policy from President Trump to impose these gigantic tariffs, which are a tax on all of us, and a regressive tax that hits middle class and working class Pennsylvanians and Americans far harder than the more affluent,” said Representative Arvind Venkat, MD.
“We can’t afford new taxes. Liberation Day imposed the largest tax in history on the middle class last year, and we’ve been suffering under that ever since. But today, we also have a new tax, and that is the war tax and the new energy costs that are rising every day for average Americans, and we’re feeling it in red states and blue streets all across America,” said Cost Coalition Senior Communications Adviser Terry Holt.
A recording of the press call is available here. Defend America Action’s new Liberation Day report is available here.
###