BOSTON (WHDH) - Governor Maura Healey spoke Wednesday about the impact President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and the ensuing international trade war, have had on the Massachusetts economy.
Healey met with local business owners to discuss ways to deal with higher prices, emphasizing that Trump’s 90-day tariff pause announced Wednesday does not mean the state is in the clear.
“We’re dealing with a situation where there’s a tremendous amount of chaos, uncertainty and unpredictability, and regardless of whether things were paused this afternoon, the fact remains we do not know what’s going to happen next,” said Healey.
The news of President Trump pausing many of the tariffs came to the meeting as it was happening. The state’s Economic Development Secretary says the uncertainty is bad for business.
“The last thing a business needs is this kind of instability. What is happening now is clearly bad for business, and we’re already seeing it,” said Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao.
“Regardless of whether things were paused this afternoon, the fact remains. We do not know what is going to happen next. This is causing considerable harm to our residents, to our economy, and to our businesses,” she said.
The governor said the states cannot fix the damage alone. She is also asking local Congress members to step in and act.
“Tariffs are a direct tax on the consumer and taxing the consumer means small business will see their sales drop and the profitability drop,” said Jon Hurst of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “We need to deal with unfair trade, no question about it, but we need to do it in a common sense way.”
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