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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz turned on President Donald Trump on Thursday by denouncing his reciprocal tariffs.
In a clip circulating on X, Cruz, who endorsed the president in 2024, calling him “a different Donald Trump,” railed against the administration’s new tariffs.
“I’m not a fan of tariffs,” Cruz stated, adding it can take months before the tariffs’ effect are realized.
“If the result of yesterday’s announcement is a lot of our trading partners across the globe dramatically reduce the tariffs they charge on U.S. goods and services, and the consequence of that is the U.S. government dramatically cuts the tariffs that were announced yesterday, that would be a great outcome,” Cruz explained. “That would be good for America.”
He then relayed a potential negative outcome.
“If the result is our trading partners jack up their tariffs and we have high tariffs everywhere, I think that is a bad outcome for America,” Cruz continued before conceding that consumers will end up paying more as a result.
“My hope is these tariffs are short lived and they serve as leverage to lower tariffs across the globe,” he added.
On April 5, according to Trump’s executive order signed Wednesday, a 10% tariff on all countries is set to go into effect. Additional individual reciprocal tariffs will then begin April 9. The Trump administration stated the tariffs are meant to “strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers.”
Originally published on Latin Times
