Thune on Trump’s Canada tariffs: 'I’m not a huge fan of tariffs'

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Tuesday that he wants to know more about President Trump’s rationale for slapping additional 50-percent tariffs on Canada, adding that he’s “not a huge fan of tariffs.”

“Just finding out about that. I’m curious to know a little more about the rationale for it but as you know I’m not a huge fan of tariffs,” Thune told reporters.

The Senate GOP leader made his comments after Trump announced new tariffs on Canadian products ranging from “wine to hockey sticks to cement,” according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the new tariffs.

Trump will impose the tariffs under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

The action prompted an angry rebuke from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who called the levies a “direct violation” of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Carney said it was the “latest in a series of unilateral U.S. trade actions” in violation of the existing free trade agreement and vowed that Canadians would stand together to “support our workers, farmers, businesses and families.”

South Dakota exports $846 million in goods to Canada and imports $554 million in Canadian goods each year, according to the Canadian government.

Agricultural goods make up a large proportion of that trade.

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