Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah Sen. Mike Lee supports Trump's 90-day pause on most tariffs.
- Rep. Blake Moore shares constituent concerns about tariffs impacting local businesses.
- Wall Street rallies as investors gain clarity from the tariff pause announcement.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mike Lee said he approved of President Donald Trump's decision to pause tariffs on most countries for 90 days, and Rep. Blake Moore shared concerns from constituents that the trade barriers could hurt local businesses and raise prices.
They weren't the only Republicans in Congress who appeared relieved at the news that Trump was replacing the massive tariffs with a 10% global levy, according to Politico. That move was accompanied by increasing tariffs on China. After arguing a day earlier that Trump should use tariffs as leverage in trade negotiations, Lee responded to Wednesday's pause on X, writing: "I approve of the 90-day pause."
Lee was one of several GOP senators to directly lobby Trump to quickly make deals to bring the barriers down, a spokesman told KSL.com, at the same time he was publicly calling on the president to use the tariffs as leverage, saying "Trump could go down as the most pro-trade, pro-growth president in modern U.S. history" if he did so.
"I am glad that so many foreign leaders are dropping their tariffs in response to ours, which President Trump is now pausing," Lee said in a statement. "It looks like Americans are on track for even freer trade than before."
As the pause was announced Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was defending the tariffs to a House committee which included Moore, Utah's 1st Congressional District representative. Moore said he questioned Greer "just minutes before" Trump's announcement and expressed concerns about how the trade war could impact local businesses.
Moore said he took his son's bike to a Salt Lake sporting goods store recently for repairs, only to find the longtime owner rattled by all the tariff talk.
"I've never seen him like this," the congressman said. "I've never seen him so anxious, so nervous about what's coming."
Moore told Greer he shared the story to illustrate how business owners and constituents are reacting to the tariffs.
"He's still just as nervous," he said of the store owner, "and that's just why I wanted to share with you and your team how important and crucial your job is. Over the next little bit, if this is looming, you have an incredible opportunity to do some of the good we did in the first Trump administration, to get us to there. We're not there. I'm scared that we're not going to get there. I don't see the strategy to get there, but I know we can, and ... I have a lot of confidence in you and your team to be able to get us there."
After the announcement, Moore said he remains "supportive of targeted and aggressive tariffs on our adversaries in strategic sectors."
Wall Street rallied after the pause was announced, and although steep tariffs remain in effect toward Chinese goods, investors seemed to breathe easier. Uncertainty in the market poses the "greatest risk" to the economy, according to Phil Dean, chief economist with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, and the pause seemed to give more clarity to investors — at least for now.
"I think the uncertainty about what that's going to be creates as much angst — if not more — than the actual tariff discussion itself," he told KSL.com. "So, I think those two combined effects are what caused concerns among investors and now it sounds like there's maybe 90 days of certainty."
