US senator says tariffs are 'absolutely counterproductive'

WASHINGTON

US Senator Bernie Sanders criticized President Donald Trump's recent tariffs on countries, saying they are "absolutely counterproductive."

"What I think is tariffs, used selectively, are a good idea if they're going to protect American jobs," Sanders told a CNN town hall Wednesday moderated by the news channel’s anchor Anderson Cooper.

"But to arbitrarily, out of nowhere, come up with a tariff that they can't even justify or explain to virtually every country on Earth is absolutely counterproductive," he added.

He stressed that the "immediate harm" of the tariffs is going to be "very significant."

Trump announced a 90-day reprieve to more than 75 nations from a Wednesday deadline in which they were expected to be hit with tariffs above his 10% baseline, except China.

- 'They don’t give a damn about you'

Turning to tech-billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has overseen deep reductions to the federal workforce, Sanders called him as a "chainsaw" slashing jobs.

He also warned that if Musk can fire federal workers, nothing can stop him once artificial intelligence and robotics takes many people's jobs.

"If Musk can do this to federal employees, some of whom are in unions, some of whom worked for years, what do you think he's going to be doing when artificial intelligence and robotics come from your job?

"Guess what? The job you have today ain’t going to be here in 10 or 15 years. And you think Musk and his friends are saying, ‘Oh, my goodness, how do we protect American workers from the explosion in technology that we’re seeing?’ They don’t give a damn about you," he said.