Press Releases

Kennedy Continues Fight Against Harmful Tariffs To Protect Western New York Economy and Families From Skyrocketing Prices 

U.S. Representative Tim Kennedy today led a letter with 60 House Democratic colleagues to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Acting Secretary of Commerce Jeremy Pelter, and Acting United States Trade Representative Juan Millán, demanding the administration rescind the executive order levying a 25 percent blanket tariff on Canadian imports and a 10 percent tariff on imported Canadian oil. The Trump Administration has delayed implementing the tariffs by 30 days, which the White House originally announced on February 1 would go into formal effect Tuesday, February 4. 

In the letter, members addressed the economic harm these tariffs on Canada would have for hardworking families, writing, “Constituents in our districts are already facing high energy prices and grocery store costs. We appreciate the announcement of the 30-day pause on implementation; however, the threat of these tariffs still harms the economic well-being of working-class Americans. As hardworking families continue struggling with inflation, the last thing we should do is make the cost of living even more expensive. We urge you to rescind your Executive Order imposing additional tariffs on Canada.”

The members also highlighted the importance of maintaining the strategic alliance between the two countries, writing, “Canada is not our competitor nor our adversary—it is our closest ally and trading partner, with tightly intertwined economies, similar values, and shared geography. Our soldiers have fought and bled alongside each other in Normandy, Korea, and Afghanistan. We jointly protect North American airspace through the world’s only binational military command, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). We share the world’s largest source of freshwater and, together, we maintain peaceful trade and security along the world’s longest land border.”

To view the full letter, click here.

On January 31, the day before the tariffs were set to take effect, Rep. Kennedy, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Co-chair of the Northern Border Caucus, stood with business leaders representing a cross-section of Western New York’s economy to warn against the dire consequences of implementing a 25 percent tariff on Canadian imports to the United States, when the Administration was set to enforce the tariffs on February 1. To learn more, click here.

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