Oregon Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner and other Democratic treasurers from around the country warned Thursday that President Donald Trump’s now-paused tariffs would lead to unaffordable price hikes for Americans and uncertainty for businesses.

Steiner, Democratic treasurers from Illinois, Colorado and Nevada and Minnesota’s state auditor called on Trump to end an escalating trade war with Canada and Mexico after he announced and then walked back 25% tariffs this week.

“How are families and businesses supposed to plan if draconian tariffs keep getting announced and delayed, they’re reimposed then delayed, and maybe they’re on some things and maybe not on others? This lack of predictability is not what government is supposed to do,” Steiner said.

Her comments during a press call Thursday followed more than a month of uncertainty surrounding tariffs and plunging U.S. stocks.

Trump ordered 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, then announced a one-month pause on Feb. 3, the day before those tariffs were set to take effect. He went ahead with 10% tariffs on goods from China that took effect Feb. 4.
A few weeks later, on Feb. 27, Trump said 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods would take effect March 4. The stock market fell and as soon as those tariffs went into place; China and Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs. On Thursday, Trump signed executive orders temporarily pausing tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but stocks have continued to fall.

Trump has described the tariffs as a way to bring lost manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., but the treasurers said that wasn’t borne out by the tariffs he imposed during his first administration. And even if some tariffs do result in more domestic manufacturing, companies need time to build facilities and hire workers.

“Anybody who thinks you can build a manufacturing plant in 30 days has never operated in the real world,” Steiner said. “I can’t even build one out of Lego in 30 days.”

She pointed to Oregon’s semiconductor industry, which lawmakers invested hundreds of millions to grow in recent years. Companies including Intel have also spent billions to build semiconductor plants in Oregon, but it takes a decade to build those plants, Steiner said.

Oregon is the nation’s 19th largest exporter, according to the federal office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and exports support about 103,000 jobs in the state.

Mexico, China and Canada are Oregon’s first, second and fourth largest export markets, respectively, accounting for slightly less than half of the more than $34 billion in goods the state exported in 2024. The state exported $6.3 billion of goods to Mexico, $5.9 billion to China and $3.3 billion to Canada.

Economists have projected that tariffs on goods from Canada, China and Mexico will cost each American household an extra $1,200 per year. Steiner’s office recently released an Oregon State University analysis that found nearly half of Oregonians can’t afford an emergency expense of $500.

“When people choose not to spend money because prices are too high, because they can’t afford to buy their kid a new outfit for school or something like that, that results in layoffs in our retail stores,” Steiner said. “When those layoffs happen, those people aren’t spending money and there are more layoffs. And furthermore, if they’re not earning money, then tax revenues aren’t flowing into our states that pay for critical services like public education, health care, public safety and so much more.”
The treasurers said that uncertainty is already affecting state economies and consumers, even if tariffs haven’t been fully implemented yet. Minnesota state Auditor Julie Blaha, who oversees that state’s investments and financial activity, said people and businesses are delaying buying equipment or hiring workers, and that that economic paralysis will drag the wider economy down.

And tariffs will have a multiplying effect on goods that are grown or processed in different places, she said. Minneapolis-based General Mills, for instance, buys oats from Canada, processes them in Minnesota and sells some of the resulting cereal and waffles back to Canada. It would end up paying tariffs each time those ingredients and products cross a border.

“The Trump trade wars are like a kid who stole a pickup and is doing donuts on your lawn,” Blaha said. “You know even if he eventually gets that thing turned in the right direction, he still has wrecked your yard by the time he gets out. And that’s what’s happening here.”