U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan hosted a forum Wednesday with Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto spotlighting the local and national effects of President Trump’s tariff policies. The forum featured almost a dozen speakers including business owners and economic experts, who discussed the ways tariffs have contributed to economic instability, increased costs for working families and benefited special interests.
Lujan kicked off the forum citing data from the Penn Wharton budget model, which is compiled by Trump’s alma mater, the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. According to the data, the tariffs will cost seniors and lower income households the most, costing the average family $22,000 over their lifetime.
“The bottom line is this, President Trump's tariffs are attacks on working families, a gut punch to the small businesses and a green light for corruption,” he said.
Lujan said the reconciliation bill, known as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” would make things even worse.
“It is unconscionable that my colleagues are proposing to cut vital programs like nutrition programs, access to food, or even access to health care, programs like Medicaid,” he said. “I mean, Medicare is even on the chopping block right now.”
Preston Martin, who owns Bicycle Technologies International, a bicycle parts distribution company based in Santa Fe, pointed out that Trump’s inconsistency with tariffs has caused costs on top of the tariffs themselves.
“Tariff uncertainty is affecting the entire supply chain. U.S. Import policies are changing without sufficient notice. It's causing just never ending negotiations with hundreds of our suppliers,” he said. “Without tariff relief or exclusions, our industry is in a dire situation.”
Martin said those costs and uncertainties mean jobs could be lost as companies try to find ways to remain secure in unsure times.
Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out several deals she says clearly show favoritism and corruption. She says Apple CEO Tim Cook — who donated millions to the Trump campaign — was able to secure special tariff exemptions that will save Apple billions of dollars.
She also pointed to allegations that Elon Musk leveraged the threat of tariffs to get his satellite internet company, Starlink, launched in Bangladesh.
“Trump's chaotic tariffs are not about helping workers. They're not about protecting American businesses,” she said. “They are about lining the pockets of Trump's own donors, and everyone else can pay the price for that.”
Several speakers also noted that tariffs have a delayed effect, and that prices will begin to rise in the coming months, which is when consumers will truly start to see the effects.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
