WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, yesterday joined MSNBC’s Kasie DC to discuss President Trump’s recent tariff decision and Russian interference in our elections. 

“Frankly, the President didn't do his homework on this one, and this is what happens when you take bumper sticker level attack on the world trading system that might stir up election rallies, but it is terrible policy. And throw it out there without having done enough ground work with our allies, with industry and partners around the world,”said Senator Coons. “The tariffs that the President is threatening to slap onto imported steel and aluminum will principally affect some of our core and vital allies. Canada, South Korea, some of our European allies. Rather than principally affecting China, which is the country he says he's been trying to get their attention on trade issues. I think, for example, rather than withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, if the President really wants to strengthen our hand in the world in terms of trade, getting back to the table and negotiating a strong tough fair deal with our partners in the Asia-Pacific against China would make a lot more sense. So, I frankly think that our allies weren't well prepared for it. The markets took a dive in response to it. And it's not yet clear to me what exactly the President's goal is in slapping tariffs on steel and aluminum, principally imported from key allies.”

Full video and audio available here.

Excerpts from the interview:  

Sen. Coons on President Trump’s tariff decision: Frankly, the President didn't do his homework on this one, and this is what happens when you take bumper sticker level attack on the world trading system that might stir up election rallies, but it is terrible policy. And throw it out there without having done enough ground work with our allies, with industry and partners around the world. The tariffs that the President is threatening to slap onto imported steel and aluminum will principally affect some of our core and vital allies. Canada, South Korea, some of our European allies. Rather than principally affecting China, which is the country he says he's been trying to get their attention on trade issues. I think, for example, rather than withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, if the President really wants to strengthen our hand in the world in terms of trade, getting back to the table and negotiating a strong tough fair deal with our partners in the Asia-Pacific against China would make a lot more sense. So, I frankly think that our allies weren't well prepared for it. The markets took a dive in response to it. And it's not yet clear to me what exactly the President's goal is in slapping tariffs on steel and aluminum, principally imported from key allies.

More on the tariff decision: There are folks in both parties who have called on the President to impose restrictions on our competitors, whether it's by punishing China for currency manipulation or going after China and others for stealing our intellectual property. This particular move, putting tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, is popular with folks in states where there is still a steel making industry that faces significant foreign pressure. And so, this is something -- this isn't some out of the blue move by the President. He did run on this. He's talked about it repeatedly. What I'm trying to suggest but saying that he didn't fully do his homework was that there is reporting that folks within the White House, within his own administration, and in some of our key allies, capitals around the world, who were utterly unprepared for this announcement. It was the way it was announced and the likely impact it will have that I think doesn't align with our best economic interests. 

Sen. Coons on Putin: Well, Kasie, I have no direct knowledge of what Denis McDonough is relating there. I wasn't involved in the conversations with the speaker and the majority leader and the minority leader in the House and the Senate about warning the American public around 2016 meddling. I do think the Obama administration tried to strike the right balance between being forceful in confronting Putin personally in the case of President Obama, and engaging Congress. Just a few short weeks before a general election and trying to avoid seeming partisan, the larger question is whether we've done enough to protect our election that's upcoming here in just a few months in 2018. And the answer clearly is that we haven't. There is reporting out in The New York Times today that out of a fund of $120 million that was appropriated to the State Department to allow them to combat meddling in elections, election interference, none of it, zero, has been spent so far. And although I've joined a bipartisan bill, a good bipartisan bill that Senator Lankford, Senator Klobuchar, and several other senators have called the Secure Elections Act, we don't have a pathway to getting that bill passed. As an appropriator, I'm working on a bipartisan basis to try and get grants out to the states in time, but it is a Republican-controlled Congress and I'll tell you, my concern is that we are not doing enough bipartisan work to get this done and get this done in a timely way to protect us for the 2018 elections.

Sen. Coons on Russia sanctions:  Absolutely. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has an upcoming scheduled hearing with Secretary of State Tillerson. It is striking to me that after the Senate, by a vote of 98-2, authorized the President to use new sanctions authority to push back on Russia, to punish Russia for interfering in our 2016 election. To my estimation, not enough has been done yet. And this new reporting today that this dedicated fund has not been utilized strikes me as just a dereliction of duty by the State Department and by the Trump administration. We can and should do more on a bipartisan basis. I'm working as an appropriator, as a senator, with Republican colleagues to try and tackle this problem. But time is really running out. And very recently in the House Intelligence Committee, we heard testimony from President Trump's own CIA Director, National Security Advisor, and Director of National Intelligence that they believe the Russians will attempt to interfere in our next election. They have interfered in democratic elections across Western Europe and so the time is long past due for us to step forward and take action. And I intend to press Secretary Tillerson on why this fund has not been appropriately used by the State Department. 

Sen. Coons on bipartisanship: Well, there's two topics I think we need to address in a bipartisan way: tackling gun violence and addressing immigration and the status of dreamers. I was bitterly disappointed that a strong bipartisan bill that would have solved the status of dreamers was rejected. It got 54 votes because of the President's change in position and active lobbying against it. Until we know that the President will support some solution on dreamers, I have a hard time seeing how we're going to get it back on the floor and get it done in time this year.

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