The chairman of the Kentucky Republican Party criticized President Trump’s steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum on Friday, saying “nobody likes them.”
Mac Brown said the tariff’s “might slow” the growth of the state’s bourbon industry in overseas markets if allies like the European Union retaliate, Fox affiliate WDRB reported.
However Brown, the former vice president of Kentucky liqueur company Brown Forman Corp., argued that if the EU follows through on imposing retaliatory tariffs the effect would be temporary. He also disputed that Trump’s tariffs have caused a “rift” within the GOP, WDRB reported.
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“I am not advocating for them at all,” Brown said of the tariffs. “I wish they weren’t going to happen, but it’s part of life.”
Brown is not the only Republican official to voice their concern over Trump’s trade practices.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday urged Trump to “pull back from the brink” on tariffs before it ignites a “trade war.”
McConnell told reporters that the tariffs could impact Kentucky’s bourbon business but also affect automative plants and agriculture, WDRB reported.
“It’s not good for Toyota, not good for farmers, not good for bourbon, and I’m among those to counsel the administration to try to avoid this, and I hope in the end we will be able to,” McConnell said.
The Trump administration announced Thursday that it would slap steel and aluminum tariffs on the European Union, Mexico and Canada, ending exemptions for the key trading allies.