Sen. Johnson looking for ways to prevent tariffs

 

William Schenkenberg with Mechanical Masters Incorporated says tariffs will lose his plumbing business money.

"They just raise the price of everything for everybody," Schenkenberg said. "It does a full circle eventually."

MillerCoors said today it could cost jobs. UWM professor Mordecai Lee says tariff's are power politics, a big help to a small sector of the industry at the expense of the consumer.

"Whereas for us, when we buy something with steel or aluminum in it, so the price might have gone up $10, $20, $30, but in a way that sort of wouldn't be discernible."

Sen Ron Johnson, R-WI says wisconsin would be hurt by tariffs more than almost any other state.

"Wisconsin is a huge manufacturer," Johnson said. "We use a lot of steel, a lot of aluminum, so when your cost of materials increase, your prices increase, and you become less effective on the global market."

Johnson is looking for measures to prevent the tariffs. He says he plans to hold a hearing and wrote a letter to the department of commerce last night to make the administration explain it's reasoning.

"We'll use Congresses oversight capability, and if we can prove this is doing harm, maybe we can get the administration to respond to us," Johnson said.

Gov. Scott Walker also reached out to the Department of Commerce last night, asking for tariff exemptions that could protect Wisconsin companies.