{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.jones.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/video-senator-doug-jones-hears-from-alabama-manufacturing-and-agriculture-leaders-about-the-impacts-of-tariffs-on-their-businesses", "VIDEO: Senator Doug Jones Hears from Alabama Manufacturing and Agriculture Leaders About the Impacts of Tariffs on their Businesses", "2018-11-20", "2018", "2018-11", "Democrat", "House", "AL", "Doug Jones", "J000300", "www.jones.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Mobile,\r\nAla. \r\nOn Monday in Mobile, U.S. Senator Doug Jones led a field roundtable on behalf\r\nof the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC)\r\nto examine the effects of the Administration's tariffs and trade policies on\r\nAlabama manufacturers and farmers. Participating speakers included leaders from\r\nall four major automakers in Alabama, the steel industry, the Port of Mobile,\r\nand farmers of soy, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and cotton. Highlights from the\r\nroundtable discussion are included below. I\r\nam troubled by the growing global trade war, not least because of the high cost\r\nto Alabama citizens. Alabama is an exporting state. More than 560,000 Alabama\r\njobs are supported by trade.Our farmers send their crops across the globe\r\nand we are the third-highest exporter of automobiles.I have heard estimates\r\nfrom the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the trade war could have an impact on as\r\nmuch as $4.4 billion in Alabama exports, Senator Jones said in his opening\r\nremarks. Jones\r\ncontinued,\r\nDespite many concerns with the administration's current trade policies, I also\r\nunderstand the need to address the bad actors. I grew up in Fairfield in the shadow\r\nof [the U.S. Steel] mill. I worked at that steel mill one summer in the cotton\r\ntie mill ten hours a day, six days a weekit was good work and [those were]\r\ngreat-paying jobs and it built a middle class.So I know the impacts of global\r\ntrade on the steel industry and where things have gone and how illegally\r\nsubsidized steel has hurt my city, has hurt my state, and has hurt this\r\ncountry. It is a national security concern. A strong steel industry is\r\nimportant for our national securitythere is no question about it and we can't\r\nstand idly by.  WHAT\r\nTHE EXPERTS SAID AT THE ROUNDTABLE: Auto\r\nmanufacturers and farmers weigh in on the harmful impacts of tariffs on their\r\nproducts: Allyson\r\nEdwards, Assistant Division Manager, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama: The\r\npotential cumulative impact of new trade policies is unsettling for those in\r\nour industry who make decisions about future investment. This uncertainty about\r\nfuture cost in an industry with long product lead times adds risk to doing\r\nbusiness in the U.S. Unfortunately, Honda has been impacted by a number of\r\ntrade actionsdespite our local [steel] purchases, the tariffs represent\r\nhundreds of millions of dollars in added cost.imposing tariffs here will put\r\nAmerican workers, American consumers, American communities, and the American\r\neconomy at risk. Mark\r\nKaiser,\r\nsoy, peanut, and cotton farmer: Soybeans are probably one of our\r\nlargest crops that we export and our largest customer is China. We're down\r\n98-percent for the year. Those soybeans are produced and they're going into\r\nstorage now. Farmers are holding onto them. I don't know what's going to happen\r\nif China doesn't go to the table and start buying, but they're going to Brazil.\r\nBrazil's going to be harvesting by the end of December. They may totally take\r\nus out of the market and we've been working on this market for 20 years. We're\r\nin a situation where we're taking the brunt of this tariff war right now and\r\nwe're the least prepared to do it. Jimmy\r\nLyons, Director and CEO, Alabama State Port Authority: I think\r\nthat we're just beginning to see the impacts and what we're going to see in the\r\nfuture is going to be much more impactful than it has been to date. We've seen\r\nit in grain. We've seen it in our steel exports. We've seen orders cancelled.\r\nWe've even seen metallurgical coal shipments cease to at least one country\r\nwho's been subject to the steel tariffs. The effects are far-reaching and it's\r\ncreated an environment of uncertainty in business.Ultimately one of the\r\nconcerns that we have is the potential inflationary impact of these new taxes,\r\nwhich is exactly what they are. You can call them tariffs,' but they're taxes.\r\nThese tariffs and taxes are eventually going to fall on the shoulders of the\r\nAmerican people. Daniel\r\nPenry, fourth-generation soy, peanut, and sweet potato farmer: Our farm\r\nhas been struggling since '14 with prices. Prices have just been down, down,\r\ndown. We've got neighbors that have quit and gone on and done something\r\nelse.Things are bad in agriculture and they have been for a while. I know that\r\nit's a matter of national security that we be able to grow our own food so we\r\ncan eat. David\r\nFernandes, President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Inc.: We believe tariffs\r\nare just another way of saying taxes. We know the impact of taxes on our entire\r\nindustry. We are already seeing it in the steel and aluminum tariffs that went\r\ninto effect earlier this year under Section 232 provision of the U.S.\r\nDepartment of Commerce. Our business philosophy and purchasing strategy has\r\nalways been to build where we sell and build where we build. That's why more\r\nthan 90-percent of our steel comes from the U.S. Now, we're here about import\r\ntariffs on vehicles and auto parts, and the idea that our imports are a\r\nnational security [threat] and, personally, that is very frustrating. The idea\r\nthat 137,000 hard-working Americans at our facilities, our supplier network,\r\nand our dealers across the country could be considered a national threatthat's\r\nimpossible. But beyond that, tacking a 25-percent tax on car parts in the U.S.\r\nis a direct hit by the government on an otherwise healthy industryan industry\r\nthat is been a driving force in America for more than 100 years. The bottom\r\nline is that prices will go up. Graham\r\nJones, Project Director, Aker Solutions, on the process of seeking exclusions\r\nfrom tariffs:\r\nThe process itself  just even the application  is not very straightforward.\r\nThere's no timelines and these tariffs are quite large on our product, so it\r\ndoesn't, with everybody else, doesn't really allow us to do any kind of\r\nfinancial planning or forecasting. Alabama\r\nsteel-makers weigh in on the benefit of steel tariffs for national security and\r\nbusiness: Brent\r\nSansing, Plant Manager, Fairfield Works Tubular: The United\r\nStates cannot afford to outsource an industry as vital to our national and\r\neconomic security as steel. During an emergency, we need steel-making here at\r\nhome, not awaiting delivery from overseas. We need American-made steel to\r\nrebuild our bridges and infrastructure and to harness and transport our energy\r\nresources. America cannot achieve energy independence if we are reliant on\r\nforeign steel to develop our own energy resources. As the [Section] 232\r\n[investigation] moves forward and is refined, it is critical to not lose sight\r\nof the harm inflicted on American steel-making and jobs by foreign imports. Mike\r\nLee, Vice President and General Manager, Nucor Steel Decatur: Our\r\nindustry has endured years of unfair trade, with an unrelenting flood of dumped\r\nand subsidized steel, overwhelming our market. This has led to reduced\r\nproduction, weaker balance sheets, and layoffs. Although Nucor was able to\r\navoid layoffs, everyone at our company is paid on the basis of performance, so\r\nwhen production and profits fall, we all take home less money for our families.\r\nFor years, we fought back with trade cases and got duties imposed on nations\r\nthat skirted the rules only to see those countries cheat again by\r\ntrans-shipping products through third countries. Yesterday's\r\nroundtable participants included: Robert Burns, Vice President, Human Resources\r\n& Administration, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama; Rick Clementz,\r\nGeneral Counsel, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International; Allyson Edwards, Assistant\r\nDivision Manager, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama; David Fernances, President,\r\nToyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Inc.; Graham Jones, Project Director, Aker\r\nSolutions; Mark Kaiser, soy, peanut, and cotton farmer, Seminole, Alabama; Mike\r\nLee, Vice President and General Manager, Nucor Steel Decatur; Jimmy Lyons,\r\nDirector and CEO, Alabama State Port Authority; Daniel Penry, soy, peanut, and\r\nsweet potato farmer, Daphne, Alabama; and Brent Sansing, Plant Manager,\r\nFairfield Works Tubular. A\r\nfull video of the Senate HSGAC field roundtable is available\r\nhere. ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.jones.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/video-senator-doug-jones-hears-from-alabama-manufacturing-and-agriculture-leaders-about-the-impacts-of-tariffs-on-their-businesses"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6587378922849894, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}