In a Monday appearance on Fox Business Network, Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield reiterated his concerns about President Trump’s newly-enacted tariff regime, saying that it threatens Alabama industry.
“We end up exporting about $10.9 billion worth of value in vehicles to 88 countries across the globe,” Canfield told host Stuart Varney.
“So we’re concerned that a tariff war, or even if we want to call it a tariff skirmish, potentially can cause disruptions in terms of the supply chain,” he said.
Canfield has been making the media rounds in recent days, telling Yellowhammer News last Friday that even though President Trump wants to help American industry, his tariffs might end up running counter to that effort if left in place for too long.
“We’ve not really faced a situation quite like this, in terms of how trade has been impacted on this scale, at least in our lifetime,” he said.
Canfield discussed direct threats to current industrial operations in terms of Alabama’s potential job losses, as well as potential loss of investment, saying he has already seen a number of projects slowed down by the tariffs.
“That doesn’t mean that they are pulling the investment, it doesn’t mean that they’re not going to invest,” Canfield said.
“It means that they’re delaying their final decision, waiting on the outcome of this trade situation so that they can better understand what their cost and risk factors are going to be,” he said.
The tariffs have put the Republican Canfield in a difficult position in Alabama, where criticizing the president amounts to political self-mutilation, as he straddles a line between opposing an objectively damaging policy and supporting its creator.
Canfield demonstrated that measure of care in an interview with Bloomberg earlier this month.
“I want to make it clear we’re not fighting President Trump on this,” he said.
“We’re trying to raise awareness and educate the administration — the U.S. Department of Commerce in particular — and urge a more measured approach.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to Fox Business Network as ‘Fox Business channel.’
@jeremywbeaman is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News
