Tuberville Praises President Trump for Making Tariffs Great Again

February 11, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) delivered a floor speech praising President Donald Trump's recent implementation of reciprocal tariffs to ensure fairness and bolster our national security.

"I come to the floor today to talk to you about President Trump's tariffs. The media is in full meltdown. They're in a full meltdown mode after President Trump imposed duties and retaliatory tariffs this week on countries that have basically been ripping the United States of America off, and they've been doing it for decades. Apparently, globalists and Democrats are just fine with other countries imposing tariffs on the United States. But when it comes to President Trump trying to equalize it up, establish a level playing field for domestic producers, well, that's a bridge too far.

If they have been paying attention to President Trump, they should [not be] remotely surprised. He campaigned on this platform three times and has been crystal clear on his intentions. Now, he is following through on his campaign promises. But in the corporate media, it seems to still be confused about all these tariffs. So, let me spell it out.

President Trump's view on tariffs [are both] a negotiating tool to get other countries to do a few things that we ask them to do, a way to boost American manufacturing, and put American workers and businesses first, not last. President Trump has his work cut out for him after the disastrous four years for our small businesses and our corporations under the Biden administration. The Biden administration made it clear to our friends and foes alike that the globalist agenda would take precedent over the safety and well-being [of] the American people. It's mind boggling. Thankfully, those days are over.

[The] American people gave President Donald J. Trump a clear mandate to restore our country's superpower status and [to] put all Americans first, all businesses first. Everybody that does something in this country. And that starts, number one, with securing our borders. Like I've said many times, if you don't have a border, you don't have a country. And we have really struggled in the last four years. That is changing.

That's why the Master Negotiator in Chief, President Donald Trump, threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada [in] just the last couple of weeks. Over the last four years, the Mexican government just basically turned a blind eye while caravans of illegal aliens overrun our borders-coming from Mexico, coming from Central America, all over the world-just overrunning our country. Thousands of women and children were trafficked, raped along the way. Drug cartels made an absolute fortune-absolute fortune. Not just with drugs, by the way, but for the payments of these illegals coming all the way through either Central America or South America to United States with a big, basically, tariff of their own, charging these people to come to the United States. Lawlessness had become the status quo under President Biden. Nobody cared. Democrats in this room, they didn't care. They didn't care what was going on. Let's just let them all come in. Let's let the drugs come in. We lose 300 people pretty much every few days to illegal drugs in this country with overdoses. But let's [not] worry about that. Let's just worry about controlling our country the way they wanted to. Well, it's been a disaster.

Mexico showed zero signs of willingness to negotiate when President Trump took office. When he did take office [on] January 20th, they woke up real quick. President Trump correctly understands that Mexico's economy is heavily dependent on the United States of America and the citizens of this country. In fact, more than 80% of Mexico's exports come to the United States. 80% come here. And the American citizens buy those products [...] Mexico's economy would almost instantly feel the effects of a 25% tariff, leaving Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum no choice-no choice-but to come to the negotiating table under the master negotiator Donald Trump.

So that's why he uses tariffs: to get his point across because people across the world take us for granted. As a result, within hours of President Trump's announcement of the tariffs, Mexico caved. They saw real quick. Obviously, they're not stupid. They agreed to help the United States secure the border and crack down on the cartels and the illegal drugs coming in-almost immediately. [...] Our neighbor to the North also caved to President Trump after a 25% tariff was threatened on Canada. Not only are illicit drugs like fentanyl coming into our country from Mexico, but there are also about [a] 2000% increase in drugs coming across the border in 2023 and 2024 from Canada. A 2000% increase. In the last fiscal year alone, enough fentanyl was seized at the northern border to kill 9.8 million Americans. And to me, that would be a very serious problem. But do you think that Democrats cared? Nope. There was no action at all by the Biden administration on Canada. No action on Mexico. But thanks [to] President Trump's leadership, our North American neighbors, from the North and South, are making changes now daily that will protect American citizens from deadly drugs, criminals, and human traffickers. The number one job of the President of the United States to protect the people in this country first, and that's what President Trump's doing.

In addition to using tariffs as a negotiating tool, President Trump also views tariffs as a way to write the wrongs of past, ineffective trade deals. That's why this week he's imposing a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, including those of Canada and Mexico. Contrary to what the media is telling you, this isn't unprecedented. It's not unusual. In fact, President Trump has helped shine a light on the fact that US exporters face higher tariffs [....] more than two-thirds of the time. We pay more tariffs than anybody. For example, among our major trading partners, [China applies higher tariffs on 85% of U.S. products and India on 90% of U.S. products]. Just think about that. We are paying tariffs on things coming in[to] this country, but when we send things out, we get the heck tariffed out of us from other countries. It's not fair trade.

These exports, imbalances, don't just impact bottom lines, they also discourage domestic production. We have got to produce more in this country. We have got to build more things in this country, and that's what President Trump's trying to do. If we don't cut back on spending and start producing more in this country, this will not be the United States of America much longer because we will be bankrupt. And we'll be reporting to somebody like China who is buying our treasury bills right and left...or they were.

One report conducted by the Department of Commerce in the first Trump administration found that excess production capacity, particularly China, has been a major factor in the decline of domestic aluminum production. Basically, we're getting overwhelmed by aluminum from China that's not near as good as what we make in this country.

President Trump built one of the strongest economies in modern history in his first term. Modern history. But the democrats failed to know that. So, they wanted to change it. And did they ever. [They] almost destroyed our economy. Jobs and wages were up when President Trump was in, inflation was down. Americans had more money in their pocket. And thanks to President Trump's strategic tariffs, along with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, companies were reshoring businesses back in the United States right and left. They were coming back because they could make profit. And that's what it's all about when you have a corporation. You gotta make a profit. And President Trump was able to, because of tariffs, make more money for manufacturing. [...]

You had companies like Ford canceling plans to build in Mexico, back in President Trump's first term, and instead opening one in Michigan. This turned out to be extremely important when COVID hit and we were forced to rely on goods manufactured right here in the United States. We found out pretty quick, just in [pharmaceutical] drugs alone, we make very little drugs in the United States. They're made in India and China. They've got to come back here. We have to be self-sustaining.

Whether it's our healthcare technologies, agriculture products, or steel, and aluminum, there's no reason for us to depend on other countries. We are the number one country in this world, have been, and will be in the future in manufacturing production. America has some of the best and brightest manufacturers. Best and brightest producers, farmers, and businesses. We take second to none. And from a national security perspective, it is dangerous to be reliant on other countries who may not have the best interests of the United States in mind. You can't blame them. They're looking out for themselves first. Well, we need to do the same thing.

Not to mention the fact that US produces the cleanest steel in the world. You'd think the Democrats and the Climate Cult would at least be happy about that. Think about that. You know, President Trump just put tariffs on steel and aluminum. A lot of the steel and aluminum come in and, because of how they make it, is some of the dirtiest in the world. We make the cleanest, and why in the world would we want to import something that is going to be detrimental to our country? [...]

The tariffs being imposed this week are an important step in President Trump's plan to restore fairness to trade, boost domestic manufacturing, and put consumers and producers first. It's about time. Three weeks into his presidency, President Trump is keeping his promises. President Trump's strategic tariffs will strengthen and revitalize our nation's economy, stop the flow of illicit drugs and illegal immigration, and make sure our trade deals are fair to both taxpayers and American manufacturers. America first! President Trump is utilizing every tool at his disposal as we speak, including tariffs, to usher in the Golden Age of the American Economy. We have to make that change. If we don't, we will not survive as the number one country in the world. We will not regain that status and we will be losing our national security."

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.