Republican CEO on Trump's trade war: It will 'cripple my business'

Trump’s policies often end up hurting his own supporters, as Lucerne International CEO Mary Buchzeiger confirmed at a trade hearing this week.

The hearings, held by office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), covered Trump’s proposed tariffs on goods imported from China. On Tuesday, Buchzeiger gave her stark assessment of what the plan would do to her livelihood.

“The tariffs proposed by President Trump would cripple my business and many like it in the Midwest,” Buchzeiger, a Republican who refers to Trump as “my president,” said at the hearing. “The beating heart of what often is called ‘Trump Country’ would be stifled by the unintended consequences of these tariffs.”

She added that under Trump’s tariffs, she would be “essentially forced out of business.”

Buchzeiger is just the latest apparent Trump supporter to get the shaft from his trade war. Wisconsin-based motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson took a hit to its stock price, just months after the Trump tax scam caused it to close its Kansas City plant.

And farmers in Trump-supporting areas will suffer from retaliatory tariffs from China. A March study by the Brookings Institute showed that 12 of the 15 states that will likely take the biggest tariff hits are red states.

Trump himself has admitted that the trade policies will cause “pain.” But he shrugged off the devastating consequences like those Buchzeiger describes as “a little hit.”

Trump and the Republicans have hurt their own voters by sabotaging health care. And they are currently seeking to impose restrictions on food assistance that would also disproportionately affect red states. And as Americans suffer through the opioid crisis, his response has been a cruel farce, particularly for those in areas that support him.

The USTR’s tariffs hearing continues through Thursday, giving many more companies the opportunity to weigh in. But if Trump’s record is any indication, even those on his side may be wasting their breath.