President Trump ordered that tariffs on imported goods be raised to historic levels.
The stock market then fell to its steepest one-day loss since the pandemic sent global markets into a tailspin on March 16, 2020.
West Virginia’s congressional delegation has generally supported the president’s protectionist policies.
“Today is a difficult day, but I believe the President is doing this because he wants to see our American workers and products on a consistent and even keel with the rest of the world,” Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told reporters during a Thursday briefing.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” on “Liberation Day.” This includes a 10-percent tariff on all imported goods, as well as additional import taxes on goods from dozens of countries and territories.
Tariffs are taxes levied on goods imported from another country. The companies that bring foreign goods into the country pay the tax to the government, which is ultimately passed on to consumers.
Congressman Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, attended the announcement. He is the author of legislation in the House to strengthen the executive branch’s negotiating power on reciprocal tariffs, with the goal of lowering trade barriers that make it difficult for American manufacturers to enter foreign markets.
Moore, the senator’s nephew, issued a statement following the “Liberation Day” event, praising the president’s actions.
“President Trump is the only president in my lifetime to acknowledge how unfair trade has devastated the Midwest and sent countless jobs overseas. “By finally reciprocating in kind, we’ll force foreign competitors to the negotiating table, lower trade barriers, and eventually create true free and fair trade across the board,” Moore stated.
“I’m confident this move will boost our domestic manufacturing industry and fuel demand for American products across the globe.”
His counterpart in southern West Virginia, Congresswoman Carol Miller of Huntington, said this on social media just a few hours before the president announced the big tariffs:
“Thanks to President Trump, companies are investing in America! Jobs are returning to the United States, and the economy is expanding rapidly.
U.S. Senate vote
A majority of lawmakers in the United States Senate voted this week to block some of President Trump’s tariffs on Canada. The legislation may send a signal, but it is unlikely to pass the House of Representatives.
Some Republicans, including Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted for the measure.
West Virginia senators Capito and Jim Justice voted against the bill.
Canada is West Virginia’s biggest export partner. In 2023, West Virginia exports to Canada totaled $181 million. China came next with $36.3 million in West Virginia exports, followed by Mexico with $21.2 million.
Justice, a newly elected Republican senator, presided over the vote.
Capito: ‘I’m concerned’
Stock markets fell sharply in response to global trade tensions.
Major indexes such as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced their worst days since 2020.
Investment firms such as JP Morgan have warned that maintaining the extensive tariffs increases the likelihood of the US and global economies entering a recession.
“Well, I’m concerned about this as well,” Capito replied to a question from Nexstar television reporter Reshad Hudson.
“We’re getting a lot of phone calls at the office. If people are looking at their 401(k)s or retirement accounts, a dramatic drop in the market like this obviously affects that segment and those accounts, which is concerning.”
But Capito stated that the president has his reasons.
“The president’s goals here are to improve the American worker, to bring more manufacturing back into the country, and to ensure that we are treated fairly with many other countries.
“In many cases, countries all over the world tax and tariff our products into their country at exorbitant rates, which disadvantages both our products and our workers because we are unable to compete. So the president has implemented a reciprocal tariff regime in which if you tariff me 10, I will tariff you 10.”
The senator predicted that the situation would shift yet again.
“I don’t think these will be in place in six months the way they look right now,” she told me.
Speaking to national reporters today, Trump stated, “It’s going very well.”
“The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom, and the rest of the world wants to see is there any way they can make a deal.” Trump said. “They have taken advantage of us for many years. For many years, we’ve been on the wrong end of the ball. And I’ll tell you what: I think it’s going to be incredible.”
Democrats: ‘It’s a result of the Trump tariffs’
During a press conference at the state Capitol in Charleston, elected Democrats argued that their counterparts should do more to push back.
According to West Virginia House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, a Huntington-based financial advisor, the sharp drop in investment value represents people’s ability to put food on the table when they retire.
“It is affecting each and every one of us, and it’s a direct result of the Trump tariffs,” said Hornbuckle, a Democrat from Campbell.
The Democratic press conference focused on tariffs, the stock market, and federal job cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency.
Delegate John Williams, a financial advisor in Morgantown, stated that the stock market is tanking as a result of tariffs.
“People are predicting a recession within the next year. “My goodness, it could happen in the next six months,” said Williams, a Democrat from Monongalia.
Williams said his Republican counterparts should exert more pressure on federal officials such as Senator Justice, the state’s former governor.
“If you’re that close with him, send him a message and tell him to stick up for our people,” Williams said, raising his voice and slapping a podium. “And we don’t see that right now. No one is advocating for West Virginians.
“No one that they elected is advocating for them. And we can talk about it until we’re blue in the face every day, but nothing will change until Republicans start working for the people who elected them and stop trying to be the month’s MAGA member.”
