help held especially black americans. i'm sick of the liberal and white liberals concerned about broken families and not black broken families. so, is that when are you guys going to get to that promise that the president made about rebuilding help in the inner cities? i'm happy to say that that is a perpetual goal. we don't ever feel like we have arrived or accomplish that. out the lowest black unemployment rate in many years if not in history and think that's just incredibly important. creating opportunities for people of all races and all colors. that is one indicator that we are making progress but i'm happy to acknowledge that we have a lot of work left to do. host:, or listen on the free c-span radio app. announcer: "washington journal" continues. for: ana swanson reports

"the new york times" about economics. earlier this week, the trump administration announced that it would be moving forward $200tariff on about billion of imports into the united states. it was kind of a surprising -- action coming now. china answered with tariffs of its own on the same value of products. additional $200 billion, in my opinion, is kind of a sharp escalation of that trade fight. it shows that the trump administration really has no intention of backing down when it comes to china, that they are

very serious about these potential tariffs going into effect, that they would like the chinese to change their trade practices as a result. that is what this whole tariff battle is about. the trump administration has a criticism about china's trade practices, including the theft of intellectual property. host: what would it target, and how does it ultimately target the american consumer, or with the consumer feel these effects? guest: the list is very long. there's over 1000 different items. some of them are quite random, including horsehair, furniture. there are a few things that do impact american consumers. with that initial round of tariffs, the trump administration was trying to design them so that they would have as little impact on american consumers as possible. but now when you expand the list to $200 billion in riots -- billion of products, you start

incorporating things that americans by at things like home depot, best buy, walmart. some of those are things like fabric or furniture or computers , some electronic parts on the list. while i would expect consumers to see very sharp price increases, those tariffs are going to filter into our economy and end up raising prices for both consumers and manufacturers. host: our guest joining us until 9:00 to talk about these efforts by the chubb administration on tariffs and trade. if you want to ask her questions, it is (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and (202) 748-8002 for independents. you can also tweet responses or questions @cspanwj. have you seen major effect in the corporate or industry world on how this plays out? guest: we are starting to see

companies announced different measures. a lot of them are realizing that with these tariffs, it is more expensive to export from the united states or into the united states from abroad. if companies are trying to serve foreign markets, their incentive may not be to pick up and moving factory already in production because those are huge investments with long lifespans. about ahey are think new factory or production line, they definitely could take these tariffs into account. this was an example of the steel and aluminum tariffs. recently we saw harley-davidson make an announcement, saying it did not want to pay this tariff that the eu put onto its bikes in response to president trump steel and aluminum tariffs and would be shifting production out of the united states for bikes it provides to the eu. host: this is from a union at hyundai, saying their alabama

plant could be the first to shut down under the president's tariff plant. that could endanger 20,000 jobs. guest: that is a huge number of jobs. the president has celebrated every job he has brought into the united states. that has been a big focus for him, to bring factories back and the united states. this idea that his trade measures are now causing jobs to leave i think will be pretty distressing for a lot of americans. host: is this an idea of who blinks first? particularly that the president was china to blink first in his trade practices? what are the chances that china will do exactly that? guest: i really think it is. argument isration's that past negotiations with china really haven't worked. either the chinese continue to have these unfair trade practices despite decades of negotiations by american presidents, and i think there are a lot of people in washington sympathetic to that argument in both parties. but his use of tariffs has been quite controversial.

i think the strategy really is that he sees the american market as kind of the essential market, a very big and important global market, so he is trained to use that might of the american economy to convince china to change its ways. will definitely hurt the chinese economy. economists are saying that china's economy does look somewhat fragile in terms of its dependence on debt, on exports, but at the same time they heard the american economy, too. you're going to be seeing many structures and consumers that feel these price increases come adhering more complaints from business groups and workers in the united states who are going to be hurt by the. them.uy them -- hurt by @cspanwj,witter it is and on facebook.com/cspan.

, florida, on the independent line, you are up with our guest. caller: hello. i am in florida in the u.s. we have a lot of opportunities here to take advantage of tax holidays. i bought a generator as soon as i heard about the trade policy because i thought that steel was going to be a factor in that, so i did get a deal. the other thing i wanted to ask you about is if you think canada -- we have a lot of canadians who come here -- are going to retaliate or how that is going to work. i am not a fan of the president of canada in terms of how he is reacting to trade issues. when it comes to alcohol and other kinds of things having to do with their government bringing tourists to our border,

can you tell me what are the things they might be trying to do from the canadian side? and i like canadians, the saying. guest: thank you so much. i think many consumers are like you. they are changing some of their behavior in response to tariffs or in anticipation of them. businesses are doing the same thing. we have been hearing reports of stockpiling, both of steel and aluminum before that when into effect. consumers have noted that the price of lumber from canada have increased. the various things you see on the shelves at the big box stores. there is definitely a little bit of stockpiling. there is a story out today about how the rush to purchase soybeans ahead of the tariffs may have boosted the economy in the second quarter because

people are trying to move forward those purchases, but we are going to see that fall off again after the tariffs go into effect. with regard to your second havent with canada, there been quite a lot of trade tensions with canada, which is quite surprising because they are typically what our closest neighbors. we have been hearing accounts of boycotts of american products from canada. those are typically hitting just the most high profile american brands, and obviously there are a lot of american products on the shelves in canada that are probably not going to suffer from some of that. but there is kind of a surprising backlash to american largepolicy there, in part prompted by this very public sparring between president trump and prime minister justin judo just -- prime minister justin trudeau when there was a clash over trade. host: this is connie in south

carolina, independent line. caller: hi. i watched y'all a lot of mornings. i want to say if this trade -- well,es into effect i suppose it has already gone into effect -- but i live in south carolina. i live in the upstate of south carolina. near north carolina, georgia, alabama. all of our companies are foreign companies from europe. i have never -- i have only worked for one american company, and i am 77 years old. in my lifetime. if they decide that they want to shut their plants down and take their jobs away, there's already that islabama, i think

going to lose about 20,000 jobs. it is a car, where they make cars. we make toyotas in tennessee. we make b&w where i live in self-care -- bmw where i live in south carolina. host: that you, caller. guest: absolutely. by sunday thaty has 20,000 jobs which are being lost, and in your home state bmw , it is quite interesting that that plant in spartanburg is the biggest exporting car plant in the united states, and bmw is the biggest american car exporter by value, not an american brand. when you think of american exports cars, a lot of them are these foreign brands coming from foreign investment. that is a really vital part of the u.s. economy. tariffs do bring some of that

into question because a lot of these companies are bringing in parts from abroad and trying to sell the finished product overseas. many of those things will now be taxed going both directions. the trump administration is also thinking about some restrictions on investment, particularly from china. i was recently in michigan visiting the auto industry there. support fromt of chinese investment now in that state, and some fears that trade tensions with china could cut some of that off, to the detriment of workers and companies. host: our next caller is from michigan on the republican line. alan, you are up. hello? caller: yes, hi. i had a comment about the tariffs. i own my own construction business. i install rain gutters on houses and businesses, so my materials

all went way up once this started. the thing is, i am willing to deal with it to make this right down the road. you know? we have to deal with it now to get it right later. whileut up with it for a and get over it, you know? guest: i have heard that same sentiment from many of president trump's supporters. they say that he's taking this really unprecedented step two right american trade -- a step to right american trade. it has been many decades that american presidents have not been a deal with all sourcing and globalization and the loss of american manufacturing jobs. i do hear that argument quite a bit, including from farmers in the midwest who are also being .it by these tariffs

but a lot of farmers have said we are willing to give the president some leeway. we think that this is a negotiating tactic, and if he is able to fix trade with china and some of these big foreign markets, it will be worth it. i think the question is how long does this take to resolve? is there a resolution at the end , and what are the goals of the trump administration? how quickly can they wrap this up and get the pain over with for ordinary manufacturers and farmers? host: one group may be not giving president leeway on this, some republican senators. a symbolic vote yesterday on the president's trade practices. one of the people who spoke was pat toomey of pennsylvania, republican. here is some of the argument leading up to that vote from pat toomey. sen. toomey: first and president

-- first and foremost commandment mr. president -- first and foremost, mr. president, this is a misuse of american trade law. this is supposed to be used when there is a threat to national security. the united states produces domestically 95% of all the .teel we consume how can one possibly make the case that we don't have plentiful abundance of them ethically produced steel to satisfy our defense needs? it is not only that. 25%, we're the biggest sources for steel, but we don't produce ourselves? that would be mexico and canada. those of the countries that provide most steel. with both of those countries, we have a surplus of trade in steel. moreanadians actually buy

steel from us them would buy from them. so to the mexicans. where is the security threat to america when my constituents choose to buy some portion of the steel that we consume from canada? swanson, let's start with this section 232 senator spoke about. guest: it is actually a different measure than the china tariffs we have been talking about. section 232 revolves around national security. laws a portion of the trade that gives the president really broad powers to take trade actions to protect national security. the trump administration has made the unique argument in ofent years that imports steel and aluminum and other products are threatening american national security by degrading the american defense industrial base.

in a time of war, they argue we would not have the factories necessary to pump out the metals to make tanks and weapons and other products. the main criticism to that, which you saw from senator toomey, is a lot of these metals actually come from close allies, in particular canada. canada supplies a huge portion of steel and aluminum would bring into the country. that has definitely been a pressure point, and other countries including canada, the european union, other allies are challenging this measure now at the world trade organization, saying that the united states measure is unlawful. from southis wade carolina, independent line. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i couldn't agree more with the guy from michigan. i think in the long-term we could maybe get north carolina back to being the furniture capital of the world, and maybe

going and walmart and seeing made in america like sam wall would do, going around to give these small manufacturers to make stuff to put in walmart. in the long-term, these tariffs i think maybe a good thing. i would like to think that, anyway. we've got to stay positive. we can't keep buying from all countries and not making products here in the country. host: thank you. what is the likelihood of those reversals the viewer would like to see? guest: i think that is a really persuasive countries and not making products here in the argument that a lot of the president's supporters feel similarly, that american manufacturing has left american shores and it would be really great to get that back. i would caution i think some of that could definitely come back, ,nd you seen that in the south

particularly with a revival in some kinds of manufacturing, including automobile manufacturing, as we were talking about with our previous color. but for some types -- our previous caller. but for sometimes of manufacturing lower down on the value chain, less expensive products, it is just a more globalized world today. american workers face a lot more competition from places like china, malaysia, india, indonesia, countries that were necessarily manufacturing powerhouses two decades ago. it is a bit of a tricky balance. there is potential to get some manufacturing jobs back, and there are definitely things the administration or any administration could do to promote that. at the same time, american workers are really competing with a lot of new sources of labor today that they weren't necessarily competing with several decades ago. those people are making lower wages, so the incentive is for companies to try to find ways to

use that. host: our guest reports for "the new york times," previously "the plus was thest," editor-in-chief for "the chinese economic review." caller: with all of these trade policies, how does a really affect day-to-day americans, especially poor and middle class who are looking for jobs >> we leave this now and take you live to the house on c-span, getting ready for votes. to rec passage of 3281 if ordered. passage of 6237. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the motion to recommit on h.r. 3281 offered by the gentleman from california, mr. huffman,