US Sen. Dave McCormick talks about Trump tariffs during State College visit
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., emphasized Tuesday to reporters around State College that tariffs are needed to help bring back manufacturing — both for economic and national security reasons — but he declined to directly answer when asked if that long-term goal was worth a possible recession.
President Donald Trump acknowledged earlier this month it could take 18 to 24 months before his tariffs lead to a manufacturing boom, since new plants would first need to be built. (Some economists believe it could take significantly longer, while others think growth won’t happen, period, due to rising costs and foreign retaliation.) Meanwhile, economic models from multiple big banks such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase now predict the odds of a 2025 recession as a virtual coin-flip.
McCormick, who was in town to host a private roundtable with local business leaders, met with reporters for 10 minutes inside a room at Penn State’s Innovation Park. It was there he was asked whether a positive manufacturing outcome would be worth a recession.
“We’ve been having, for 30 or 40 years, President (Barack) Obama, President (Bill) Clinton, President (George W.) Bush — who I worked for — stepping up and saying we’re going to negotiate better deals and we’re going to get fairness with China,” McCormick said. “And it just hasn’t happened. So we need to make that transition. I think there’s ways to do that that will be great for our economy.
“So I do think it’s worth making the tough choices to get there, and I think that’s what President Trump’s trying to do. I think the more CEOs have clarity on the outline of the tariffs, I think it’s going to allow them to make those choices more quickly.”
McCormick did not say which businesses he met with Tuesday.
The junior senator avoided criticism of Trump, whom he has long supported. The two were spotted together at the NCAA Wrestling Championships last month in Philadelphia, where Penn State won its 13th career national team title.
However, McCormick at several points acknowledged more clarity from the administration would be helpful.
“I think the key is to give business leaders — and this is one of the things that came up on the roundtable — as much clarity as possible over how the tariffs are going to be rolled out as soon as possible so they can begin to make the investment decisions,” he said. “I was a CEO; I was in the private sector for 25 years. When you have clarity, even if it’s not exactly what you wanted, when you have clarity on what the future’s going to look like to some degree, it allows you to make investment choices.
“And so I think the next step is to try to give that clarity. Some industries are going to be able to move very quickly. Some are going to take a little bit longer.”
Economists have generally intimated that a lack of certainty with tariffs leads to a lack of certainty with the economy. And the stock market has yo-yo’d with many tariff announcements; according to CNN, Trump has made more than 10 such moves and announcements since February.
McCormick said Tuesday he’s attempted to focus on listening to business owners at these roundtables, instead of lecturing at them. But he said he also tends to make several points. Despite the current uncertainty, McCormick said there is certainty that the Trump administration will focus on deregulation and energy dominance, which the senator said should “lower energy prices.” McCormick also said there’s confidence that Trump will extend the 2017 tax breaks. And McCormick touted the $2 trillion of investment pledges that have come since Trump’s inauguration — although the Financial Times reported last week that tariffs threaten those pledges.
“I’m hoping, and I’m encouraging (Trump) to come out with some signature deals soon, so people understand what the future looks like,” McCormick added.
Feelings on the tariffs are divided mainly along party lines. A recent CBS News poll found 85% of surveyed Republicans believe tariffs would add manufacturing jobs to the U.S., while only 20% of Democrats believe the same. In that same poll, 84% of Dems believe Trump doesn’t have a clear plan for tariffs or trade, compared to just 9% of Republicans.
After meeting with the media, McCormick posted photos to X about his visit to Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory, in addition to meeting with two national championship teams in Nittany Lions wrestling and women’s volleyball.
