Republican lawmakers are growing alarmed over signs that President Trump’s expanding trade war is hurting the economy, something they’re hearing from constituents at home who are struggling to adapt to Trump’s zigzagging tariff pronouncements.

GOP lawmakers say they’re hearing from business owners, exporters, farmers and local leaders that Trump’s threat of steep tariffs against Canada, Mexico and Europe are chilling business sentiment in the United States.

Companies feel less confident about expanding operations and hiring new workers, given their uncertainty about the costs of imported goods and the potential loss of foreign markets over the next year.

“The Canadian tariffs will definitely have a detrimental impact on the economy of Maine and on border communities in particular,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). “We have for example a major paper mill in Northern Maine right on the border that gets its pulp from Canada."

“That mill alone, which is by far the biggest employer in the region, employs 510 people directly. I’ve talked to the owner of that mill, the imposition of a 25-percent tariff could be devastating,” she warned.

Trump announced Thursday that he would pause 25-percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico until April 2, but Collins warned that the looming threat of high fees is having a chilling effect on her state’s economy.

“I think it freezes investment until they know exactly what the impact is going to be. So I understand the president’s desire to level the playing field, but Canada’s just not the problem in Maine,” she said, citing wood products, blueberries, lobsters and potatoes that go back-and-forth across the border as key drivers of the economy.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he’s hearing a deluge of complaints from business leaders in Kentucky about the potential impact of Trump’s trade policies on the local economy.

“I have every major industry in Kentucky........

© The Hill