BUSINESS/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “They’ve testified, tweeted, written and called with their concerns. Now American businesses, which have so far been unable to stop President Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs, are mounting a last-ditch effort to convince the president that his trade policies are hurting his political base. In a multimillion-dollar campaign that includes television advertisements, rallies in targeted congressional districts and online persuasion efforts, companies and business groups led by the National Retail Federation and an agricultural group called Farmers for Free Trade are highlighting the damage the tariffs are bringing to companies and workers in states with large numbers of Trump supporters. The effort, called Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, focuses heavily on the economic pain that manufacturers say is being inflicted upon industries that Mr. Trump champions and patches of the country that lifted him to the White House. It includes nearly 90 industry trade groups, like the Consumer Technology Association, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association and the Toy Association.”
–Jim Tankersley, “Rebuffed by Trump on Tariffs, Businesses Mount Coordinated Pushback,” The New York Times online, September 13, 2018