Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay told Newsmax TV on Friday that President Donald Trump was getting into "very risky stuff" by slapping tariffs on three countries and in re-negotiating NAFTA.
"I am very concerned," DeLay, the former Texas Republican who was majority leader from 2003 to 2005, told Miranda Khan on "America Talks Live" in an interview. "I am a free-trader.
"I'm concerned when anybody says: 'I'm a free-trader, but I'm for about fair trade.'
"What that means is they're for government-manipulated imports and exports," he observed. "That could have a very down effect on this booming economy."
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DeLay, 71, is the author of the book: "Revival! Revolution! Rebirth! A Radical Call from the Former Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives."
"When you impose tariffs, all prices go up," he explained. "They're just like taxes.
"So, you're raising taxes on the American people and jobs are in jeopardy."
DeLay noted that 280,000 jobs at the Port of Houston depend on free trade — and crops grown on one of every three Texas acres are exported.
"If we're in a trade war, those jobs are in jeopardy, particularly when you look at steel," he told Khan.
"They want to protect 33,000 steel jobs, but in doing that, you're going to cost 146,000 jobs that deal in the trade of steel.
"For the president, this is very risky stuff he's involved in."
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