Congressman urges comprehensive tariff strategy, defends USMCA and floor tactics

The congressman told hosts that tariff policy should be coordinated rather than decided through repeated, stand-alone votes on the House floor, saying frequent votes risk ceding procedural control to Democrats and undermine a consistent Republican trade approach.

He defended the North American trade pact known as USMCA, saying former President Trump played a central role in renegotiating the 1990s North American Free Trade Agreement and that the pact “worked quite well.” He listed remaining areas to negotiate with Canada and Mexico — dairy, softwood lumber, automotive rules and information-technology rules — and said the pact is vital because “30% of GDP in my home state of Arkansas is connected to cross border trade with Mexico and Canada.”

When the hosts cited a news report that the president was ‘privately musing about exiting’ USMCA, the congressman said he found that concerning and urged sticking to the “big picture” of growing exports, using tariffs selectively to change other nations’ behavior, and consolidating wins with individual partners. He pointed to recent fine-tuning with regions such as the EU, U.K. and Japan as examples of selective tariff use.

The congressman also argued for minimizing consumer harm while using tariffs as leverage, saying some tariffs have been rolled back on commodities the U.S. does not produce so essential goods are not needlessly burdened.

The interview closed with the congressman saying that strategic floor decisions — including support for Speaker Mike Johnson, he said — help preserve Republican control of the chamber and therefore the party’s ability to steer trade policy on a narrow majority.