Congressional Republicans are embracing Donald Trump’s tariff campaign as a way to advance home-state causes, lobbying the president to impose more import duties to protect local companies.
The rank-and-file GOP lawmakers’ entreaties, which often present trade actions shoring up favored manufacturers as a winning tactic for midterm elections, bolster the political case for broadening U.S. tariffs.
Trump announced two sweeping expansions of trade barriers in recent days, on Tuesday widening steel and aluminum tariffs to include more than 400 types of items that contain the metals. On Friday, he announced a trade investigation into furniture imports, which he said would lead to new tariffs within 50 days.
In a social media post announcing the furniture trade action, he cited the boost it