00:00Tariff rates are at the highest we've seen them since pre-Great Depression.
00:04As you stated, you're representing five businesses that are greatly impacted by these tariffs.
00:10How are the tariffs impacting them specifically? Can you tell us that?
00:14So these are businesses in various different sectors of the economy,
00:17ranging from wine imports to fishing equipment and other matters.
00:23This was explained at the Liberty Justice Center website in more detail.
00:27But the basic story is that all of them import various products or components from abroad
00:34that either cannot be acquired in the United States or can only be acquired at much greater cost.
00:39And also, in some cases, the products are unique, as in the case of our wine client,
00:45who imports wine from, I think, five different continents around the world.
00:50And some of the I'm no I'm no wine expert myself.
00:53I'm not much of a connoisseur, I have to admit.
00:55But people who do appreciate and understand fine wine,
00:58they know that there's distinctive taste that come from particular wineries
01:02that simply can't be replicated by a substitute.
01:06So they would suffer great harm.
01:08And there are similar stories for other clients with respect to the products or inputs that they import.
01:14And if you look at firms around the country in a vast range of different industries,
01:21you will see similar stories that there's a reason why we import these products that has to do with price, quality and other matters.
01:29And if we block their importation or make it extremely cost-free with tariffs, we're all going to be poorer.
01:36We're going to be paying more for the products that we consume.
01:38We're going to have less variety and choice.
01:41And many American jobs will also be threatened because many Americans, like the employees of some of our clients,
01:47work for businesses that depend on imports for the things that they produce.
01:52I've spoken with economists, other small businesses,
01:57and while the White House is saying that these tariffs are to help Main Street now,
02:01it's Main Streets turn, not Wall Streets,
02:04these small businesses are saying that's really not the case.
02:07But I want to read something from the White House.
02:09White House spokesman Harrison Fields said this in a statement to CNN.
02:12Never Trumpers will always oppose him,
02:15but President Trump is standing up for Main Street by putting an end to our trading partners,
02:19especially China, exploiting the U.S.
02:21His plan levels the playing field for businesses and workers
02:24to address our country's national emergency of chronic trade deficits.
02:29What do you make of that reaction?
02:33It's utter claptrap.
02:34Ask economists to cross the political spectrum.
02:37Weft, Reicher, they will tell you the same thing.
02:39You're not helping Main Street by making them poorer,
02:42by raising their prices of their goods and so forth,
02:45and also by, in many cases, costing them their jobs
02:48and harming them in all sorts of other ways.
02:52And that's not even to mention the retaliation that other countries are going to impose
02:56against our exports that will still further damage Main Street.
03:00One of the things that experts and economists across the political spectrum agree on
03:05is that free trade is beneficial,
03:06and protectionism would perhaps extremely rare exceptions as harmful.
03:10And I will add, if all of this is about China,
03:13then why is he tariffing the other 179 nations that are on this tariff list,
03:17including ones that impose no tariffs at all on the United States,
03:21such as Switzerland and Israel?
03:23If I'm an ever-Trumper, it is for good reason.
03:26It is because he has a history of cruel and unjust and harmful policies
03:30and abuses of power like this one.
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