Paul Ryan weighs in on Trump's proposed tariffs - and Congress might take action

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) weighed in Monday on the tariffs that President Trump proposed on aluminum and steel production in order to defend those industries in the United States from unfair market practices, especially from China.

Here's what Speaker Ryan said

“We are extremely worried about the consequences of a trade war and are urging the White House to not advance with this plan,” said Ryan said in a statement released Monday.

“The new tax reform law has boosted the economy and we certainly don’t want to jeopardize those gains.”

Trump announced last week that he would be supporting a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports and 25 percent tariff on steel imports.

He explained his announcement from his social media account.

"When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win," he said. "Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!"

However, when asked Monday if he thought we would begin a trade war Monday, the president told reporters "no."

Congress could take action against Trump 

“Congressional leaders won’t rule out potential action down the line," a GOP source told Haley Byrd of the Weekly Standard.

Here's a CNN report on Paul Ryan's response:

The trade war President Trump​ said would be easy just got harder thanks to Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress.
"#KeepingThemHonest, you would think, if this were so easy, you would at least have your own party leaders on board." - Anderson Cooper pic.twitter.com/TuMXoDJhlq

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 6, 2018