Welch Presses Deputy Treasury Secretary Nominee on How Trump’s Tariffs Will Raise Costs for Vermonters

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury to Welch: Tariffs “may find its way into prices.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, this weekpressed Michael Faulkender, President Trump’s pick for Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Department, on how the Trump Trade War will raise costs for Vermont families. Senator Welch outlined the impact of Trump’s new proposed tariffs on imports from Canada, and potential retaliatory tariffs, which will result in higher costs and hurt employment for Vermonters. 

“I’m getting increasingly concerned about where the economy is going, and

there are a number of things I think we can’t ignore…There are policies that are creating an enormous amount of anxiety—certainly in Vermont—and that’s the tariffs,” said Senator Welch. “So, you’re telling me that the President is willing to make Vermonters pay 40 cents a gallon more for gasoline, maybe 10-15% higher for electricity, and 10-15% higher for home heating fuel. For our maple sugar producers to pay 25% more for the equipment they use—that that’s okay with the President?” 

Watch the exchange between Senator Welch and Michael Faulkender, President Trump’s pick for Deputy

Secretary of the Treasury Department: 

Read excerpts of their exchange below: 

Sen. Welch: I just asked a very specific question…A Vermonter says, ‘Peter, how are we going to handle this? This is not a good thing for us.’ And I’m asking you: how are we going to handle this? They don’t want to hear about, ‘the President’s economic plan.’ They want to know how they’re going to pay their home heating bill.  

Mr. Faulkender: Right, and the way that we’re going to do that is to bring down energy prices by unleashing American energy. Bring down the cost of food and clothing and other aspects that Vermonters and Americans rely upon by bringing down regulation.  

Sen. Welch: Well, I’m all for dealing with regulation, but you could have regulation without higher tariffs, right?  

Mr. Faulkender: And then on the tariffs, I think that the President’s objective is to address long-standing inequities in our international trade practices.  

Sen. Welch: I’m talking about Canada. 

Mr. Faulkender: As the president has explained the Canada tariffs are to get them to focus on the fentanyl crisis that has been causing deaths,  

Sen. Welch: You know, I understand that at the southern border we’ve got full cooperation with Canada they hate fentanyl just as much as we hate fentanyl. 

•••

Sen. Welch: You are talking about what the president’s goal is. I’m asking you as an economist, okay? There is a price that Vermonters will pay with these increased tariffs on Canada. Is that right or is that somehow magically wrong?  

Mr. Faulkender: I think that to the extent that the promise of these tariffs will compel the Canadians to take greater effort to address their role in the fentanyl crisis then the President would be willing to remove those tariffs in order to have extracted that assistance.  

Sen. Welch: I’ll try to make this clear: Will a 25% increase in tariffs, on those items I mentioned—home heating fuel, electricity, gasoline—mean that Vermonters pay more for home heating fuel, gasoline, and electricity?  

Mr. Faulkender:  Again Senator, it depends upon whether the Canadians take the steps the President’s looking for and whether those tariffs will remain in place.  

Sen. Welch: But the tariffs are in place. I’m just asking whether those 25% tariffs will mean…Will Vermonters pay more as a result of those tariffs?…Does that mean Vermonters are going to pay more or less?  

Mr. Faulkender: It’s split three ways. Some of it is going to show up in the exchange rate between the Canadian dollar and U.S. dollar, some of it will be absorbed by the Canadian producers, and then some of it may find its way into prices in a one-time adjustment.  

Earlier this week, Senator Welch invited Allison Hope, Executive Director of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association, to be his guest for President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress. The Senator and Ms. Hope joined Senate Democrats for a press conference on Capitol Hill to share how Trump’s Trade War will hurt Vermont’s maple industry. 

In February, Senator Welch took to the Senate floor to blast the proposed tariffs, which would be a tax on Vermonters. Senator Welch shared stories from Vermonters about how President Trump’s economic policies will impact their family, farm, and community. Watch his speech on the Senate Floor here and read his remarks as delivered here.