WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) highlighted a new report from the Joint Economic Committee warning that the Trump Administration’s sweeping tariff regime—which has included almost 100 different policies since April—has directly harmed the American manufacturing sector and could cost the U.S. more than $490 billion in manufacturing investments by 2029.

“If President Trump were actually focused on lowering costs, he would never have never implemented his idiotic, unpopular sales taxes in the form of tariffs,” said the senators. “This report clearly shows the short and long-term damage Trump’s tariffs will have on American manufacturing businesses and consumers. We’re going to keep doing all that we can to pressure Trump to listen to these critical warning signs, reverse course, and put our economy first.”

The Joint Economic Committee, using both U.S. business investment growth projections and economic analyses of uncertainty for United Kingdom businesses in the years following the U.K. Brexit vote to leave the European Union, found that:

• A prolonged period of economic uncertainty in the U.S.—as the U.K. faced—could result in more than a 13 percent decrease in manufacturing investment per year, totaling more than $490 billion by 2029.
• Since April, when Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs, the U.S. has lost 37,000 manufacturing jobs and hiring in the manufacturing sector has dropped to the lowest level in nearly a decade. After a surge during the previous administration, manufacturing construction spending has been in decline since Trump took office, as businesses refrain from making major investments amidst the economic uncertainty.

• Even if the uncertainty about the U.S. economy were to end tomorrow, the uncertainty that businesses have already experienced because of tariffs will have long term effects on U.S. manufacturing. Committee calculations find that the economic uncertainty experienced in April alone could result in a one percent reduction in manufacturing investment per year, a loss of more than $42 billion by 2029.

Read the full report here.

Warner and Kaine have been leaders in the fight against Trump’s dangerous tariff policies. In July, Kaine, the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, announced his intent to file legislation to challenge Trump’s tariffs on goods from Brazil. The legislation is privileged, which means the Senate will be forced to vote on the legislation soon. In April, the senators successfully secured Senate passage of a bill to undo Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods. Kaine has since sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson demanding that he schedule a vote in the House of Representatives on his Senate-passed legislation. Kaine also forced a vote on his bipartisan legislation to repeal President Trump’s across-the-board tariffs that the White House announced on April 2.

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