Sen. Johnson holds round table on tariffs impacting Wisconsin business

 

Senator Ron Johnson is calling on President Donald Trump to end tariffs on steel and aluminum.

This came after businesses all over Wisconsin came to Johnson’s round table to talk about how those tariffs are hurting.

Local farmers say these tariffs are costing them access to foreign markets and forcing them to lose farms.

Wisconsin crops like soybeans and jinsing sell well over half their crops to China alone, but retaliation tariffs from china and other countries make U.S. farmers and manufacturers like Harley less competitive in foreign markets.

Local manufacturers also say the tariffs have forced steel and aluminum costs to skyrocket.

Some companies are paying 45 percent more for aluminum than they were before .

Johnson says it’s giving foreign companies the upper hand, and he’s worried they will take large portions of customers from american companies.

“The damage being done, and much of it is permanent," Johnson said. "These contracts could be lost. A lot of these supply chains take a very long time to develop, and these customers take a long time as well. And they’ll switch supplier, and we won’t get those back for a decade or more.”

All of the businesses and farmers at Johnson’s round table submitted reports detailing the losses these tariffs have caused.

Johnson says he plans to deliver those to the department of commerce and try to change the president’s mind.