Eight Republican senators visited the White House on Tuesday to meet with Chief of Staff John Kelly about President Donald Trump's tariff proposal, according to a new report.
CNN's Dana Bash reported Tuesday afternoon that the group of GOP lawmakers expressed their concerns with Trump's idea to place tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
The Associated Press reported Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., attended the meeting.
The reported meeting comes on the heels of comments made by several Republicans who said they are worried the tariffs will result in higher prices at the consumer level and lost jobs at companies that use steel and aluminum to manufacture goods like cars and aluminum cans.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday he would like to see the tariff plan softened a bit, although he did admit the practice of steel dumping — selling product at a lower cost than normal — takes place.
"There is clearly abuse occurring, clearly there is overcapacity dumping in transshipping of steel and aluminum by some countries, particularly China, but I think the smarter way to go is to make it more surgical and more targeted," Ryan said.
Trump has not backed down from his plan to place a tax of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports.
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