Governor Glenn Youngkin threw his support behind President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff promise Tuesday. The support comes hours after Mexico’s president promised to match any tariffs Trump adds in his effort to stem the flow of fentanyl into the US.
Trump’s promise to add 25% import duties on Mexican goods would be reduced if the country took steps to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US. But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday any tariffs added by Trump could be met with the same.
“One tariff would be followed by another in response,” Associated Press reported.
According to a report by manufacturing researchers Trace One, China, Mexico and Canada, the three nations Trump has promised to tariff, are responsible for about half of America’s food imports. Some economists argue tariffs act like a tax that’s paid by consumers, but supporters have argued they’ll be used as a negotiating tool for the incoming president.
And Youngkin pushed back on Sheinbaum’s threats on Trump’s behalf Tuesday.
“What I think we’re going to see is an incredibly robust economy that is going to reshore manufacturing from around the world into America and Virginia because ‘Made in America’ means made in Virginia. And I think we’ll see an extraordinary economic expansion in America that may have never been seen before.”
But Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell feared Trump’s history of cross-border promises -think building a wall that Mexico will pay for- can end up hurting Americans.
“25 percent tariffs on China and Mexico is a wonderful way to throw us into a recession,” Surovell told Radio IQ. “And if you want to destroy the Mexican economy, just wait till we see the pressure on immigration after that happens. Trump’s policies make for good politics but it’s horrible policy.”
Youngkin offered his support during a news conference praising his administration’s work in fighting the fentanyl overdose epidemic in Virginia. At the news conference at the Attorney General’s office in Richmond Youngkin said Virginia saw a 23% decrease in fentanyl overdoses, the third largest decrease in the nation.
“What we’re doing is working but as you know the answer is not a percentage decline it is to eradicate it, to crush it, to eliminate it,” Youngkin said.
The national average in overdose reduction was about 14%. Youngkin pointed to the AG’s One Pill Can Kill awareness program, and the million dollars in funding the legislature gave it as part of the commonwealth’s success.
He did not mention the millions provided by the federal government in the last two years to combat fentanyl overdoses. President Joe Biden’s administration also dramatically increased access to Narcan, the drug that reverses fentanyl overdoses, in March 2023.
Youngkin also revived a promise to push the legislature to create a new felony punishment for those who get caught selling drugs like fentanyl that end in death, an effort stopped by Democrats in the majority earlier this year.
“We still battle the basic concept of holding an individual who knowingly distributes fentanyl that results in a death accountable for a felony homicide and we’ll go back again this General Assembly session and work together to pass that bill,” the Governor said.
But Surovell reiterated Tuesday his same criticism about Youngkin’s felony expansion that he gave last year.
“It’s a felony already; what’s two or three more felonies for someone who already committing a felony?” he asked. “I’m growing tired of the fascination of adding new crimes and punishments because it doesn’t require any money and it's easy to do.”
Any legislative efforts are expected by early January. Trumps tariff plan is supposed to story shortly after he enters office early next year.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
