‘We need markets for our products’: Miller-Meeks talks tariffs during radio town hall

While President Donald Trump continues to implement sweeping tariffs during his second term in office, Republican Iowa U.S. Rep Mariannette Miller-Meeks says she thinks they can be an effective negotiating tactic, but only in the short term.

During a radio town hall on conservative radio host Simon Conway’s show Tuesday night, Miller-Meeks was asked by callers whether she supports Trump’s use of tariffs, with one caller saying Iowa farmers are ”hurting” from tariffs right now and are looking for places to sell their crops at a fair price.

While Miller-Meeks said she hasn’t heard from any farmers who have felt betrayed by tariffs and said the taxes have helped secure deals with countries that she says use “egregious trade practices,” she added that tariffs should be short-term solutions that help level the playing field.

“What I support is the idea that the tariffs are handling egregious trade practices and to bring manufacturing back to the United States,” Miller-Meeks said. “My concern with tariffs is number one, we need to have trade so we need markets for our products, and any trade negotiation or trade deals that are done need to be fair to both partners. You can't have one country that subsidizes its farmers where another country does not subsidize its farmers.

“Tariffs should be short-term,” Miller-Meeks continued. “They should be a negotiating tactic, but the whole goal is to, one, make sure that there is a level playing field, and number two, to ensure that when we do trade deals and negotiations that they're fair to us, not just fair to the country that we're trading with.”

Last month, Miller-Meeks sent a letter to Trump and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins urging the administration to continue strengthening U.S. trade policy with China — the largest buyer of U.S. soybeans — and support Iowa farmers by creating stable and reliable markets.

In the letter, she applauded the Trump administration for its proposal to provide relief to farmers using tariff revenue.

Iowa farmers initially expressed frustration in September after the Trump administration announced $20 billion in financial assistance to Argentina, which ended up exporting 1.3 million tons of soybeans to China the same week. The administration recently announced that it received a promise from China to buy at least 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually for the next three years, according to the Associated Press.

White House East Wing demolition

Two weeks after the White House’s East Wing was demolished to create space for President Trump’s new ballroom, Miller-Meeks said renovations to the residence are common among presidents. She pointed to other presidents who made changes, including former President Barack Obama, who renovated the White House tennis court into a basketball court.

Miller-Meeks said the East Wing, which was originally constructed in 1902 and significantly expanded in 1942, has a “minimal historical precedent.” She added that she believes it's necessary to have more space to host world leaders besides the Rose Garden.

“To have a place where you can have formal state dinners seems to me to be a solution that many presidents have wanted to have done,” Miller Meeks said. “President Trump is getting it done, and he's not using taxpayer-funded, you know, monies to do it.”

The ballroom is estimated to cost $300 million, most of which is coming from donations made by private companies and himself, according to the Associated Press.

Eminent domain

Asked by one caller about how changes to the Inflation Reduction Act’s green energy subsidies would impact funding for carbon capture pipelines, Miller-Meeks, in answering, said she believes a majority of easements of private land should be voluntary, but also understands the need for carbon pipelines to support Iowa’s agricultural economy, especially when competing with Brazil.

Miller-Meeks said she opposed the Iowa Utilities Commission’s ruling to allow Summit Carbon Solutions the authority to use eminent domain for its carbon capture pipeline and saw a similar thing happen to her grandfather, who twice had land taken in California to build an interstate.

“Anytime there is an acquisition of property, it should be done voluntarily,” Miller-Meeks said. "I also understand the need for the carbon dioxide pipeline, for any pipeline ... (I) understand the need to support Iowa's agricultural economy.”