What won’t score points with Trump voters? The painful tariffs that Canada and Mexico will use to hurt Trump-leaning states like Wisconsin and Iowa. While Canada and Mexico had been able to largely ignore the president’s protectionist impulses when they were just rants, they are now being dragged down to Trump’s level. [...]
The list of products they are taxing has been carefully calibrated for maximum political impact, experts say. The idea is to squeeze states and sectors that can exert pressure on the White House, and/or hit Trump’s base. The tariffs are designed to get a quick reaction from those sectors, says Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute. Their effects “will be immediate and fairly devastating.”
For example, in addition to steel, Mexico is targeting a variety of agricultural goods, from apples to hams. The plan, Mexican Economics minister Ildefonso Guajardo told Mexican radio on Thursday, was to identify products from congressional districts and states represented by elected officials who could influence Trump. Guajardo didn’t specify who, but one of those officials is likely house speaker Paul Ryan. His state of Wisconsin produces the bulk of American cranberries, which are on Mexico’s retaliatory list. On Thursday, Ryan said he was against the tariffs. [...]
So, Mexico tracked down the Congress members who had backed the ban and punished products in their states, says Guajardo, who was part of the administration that rolled out those measures. Over those two years, the Mexican government rotated those tariffs to ensure the pain was spread around, adds Council of the America’s Farnsworth.
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