Trump’s tariffs spark campaign to de-escalate trade war

Trade associations representing farmers, retailers and manufacturers and other industries are joining forces in a new multimillion-dollar campaign to oppose President Donald Trump’s tariffs, in the latest attempt by U.S. business to stop an escalating trade war.

Groups lobbying for months to persuade the president that tariffs are the wrong approach have been largely ignored, as Trump slapped duties on billions of dollars of imports from steel to Chinese products.

But a new coalition called Americans for Free Trade is joining Farmers for Free Trade seeking to change the direction in Washington by highlighting stories of businesses, consumers and farmers in the heartland negatively affected by the duties.

The groups announced the coalition Wednesday with a jointly funded campaign of more than US$3 million, involving town hall-style events in key congressional districts ahead of the midterm elections, digital advertising and other grassroots outreach to Congress and the Trump administration.

More than 80 coalition members have signed a letter to all members of Congress asking for support in fighting the duties and providing oversight on trade policy matters.

The idea is to amplify the stories of small businesses, consumers, and industries hurt by the duties to show the administration that the short-term U.S. economic pain from tariffs and retaliation from other countries is not worth any long-term deal Trump hopes to strike using tariffs as leverage, coalition members said.

“The political calculus may lead the administration to think this is a winning hand,” said Dean Garfield, chief executive of the Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Apple Inc., Google and Microsoft. “But if we can change the realities on the ground, then the administration may recalibrate.”

U.S. business groups have been trying traditional advocacy and even unusual lobbying approaches to oppose the tariffs, including airing ads on Fox and Friends’ that Trump is known to watch.

But those efforts haven’t deterred the president from imposing duties on metal imports and US$50 billion in Chinese products so far.