Ciattarelli supports Trump tariffs despite their unpopularity

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli has repeatedly endorsed President Donald Trump’s tariffs policies despite their unpopularity.

According to the Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans disapproved of Trump’s tariffs as of August.

Ciattarelli, though, has continued to throw his support behind the president’s trade policies.

In a Sept. 8 interview with Fox affiliate television station My9’s “New Jersey Now,” Ciattarelli faced a question about his thoughts on Trump’s tariffs and whether he’d be willing to push back against the president in any way as governor. Ciattarelli said: “The president’s trying to hit the reset button on the trade imbalance. … He did say there might be some short-term pain for the long-term gain.”

This has been Ciattarelli’s position for much of the campaign. His answer was unchanged from a June interview with My9.

“The president’s doing exactly what he said he was going to do,” Ciattarelli said in that interview. “I think we have to give him a chance to see if these things work.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill, for her part, has criticized Ciattarelli’s position on tariffs repeatedly.

In response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Sept. 5 jobs report showing just 22,000 jobs were added across the country in August, Sherrill put out a statement: “Today’s jobs report shows what I have been hearing all across the state — Trump’s tariffs are wrecking our economy and paralyzing Jersey’s small businesses. Jack’s all in on this MAGA chaos … I’m running to lower costs, Jack’s running to serve Trump, and New Jerseyans are already paying a steep price from Trump’s agenda.”

Ciattarelli’s defense of tariffs has come even amid reporting of the tariffs’ disruption to New Jersey businesses.

In August, a Point Pleasant Beach clothing store owner told the Asbury Park Press that the price of a top and dress she ordered from the United Kingdom would jump more than $20 because of tariffs. Kelly Hayes, co-owner of Saltwater Culture, told the news outlet that price was too high to justify ordering it for her customers. Then, a month later, the Trump administration rescinded the tariff.

“It’s a lot of back and forth,” Hayes told the newspaper.

Other Jersey Shore businesses, including a pizza restaurant restructuring due to higher costs for Italian flour and a high-tech manufacturer concerned about countries retaliating with tariffs of their own, told the newspaper similar stories of uncertainty.

Sherrill said in an August statement: “No matter the cost to New Jersey, Jack is all in on Trump’s tariffs and even endorses the ‘pain’ that New Jerseyans will face because of it. New Jersey families and businesses are struggling, but Jack would rather score points with Trump than stand up for our state.”