INDIANAPOLIS – Tariffs continue to constrict Hoosier farmers and manufacturers, with one major Jasper manufacturer considering leaving the country – but they shouldn’t look to Rep. Braun for help if elected after he’s spent months ignoring the damage to Indiana’s economy.

The imposition of new tariffs and taxes on trade with China, Canada, the E.U. and other countries have left many companies wondering if remaining in the U.S. will become self-destructive. The most recent company to consider heading for the exits due to the new tariffs is right in Rep. Braun’s hometown. In a Bloomberg report yesterday, Jasper-based Kimball Electronics said that tariffs on diodes and electric integrated circuits imposed by the Trump Administration may force the company to move its manufacturing outside of the U.S.

“I do not exaggerate when I say that 25 percent duties on these products would kill domestic durable electronics manufacturing,” Kimball Electronics CEO Donald Charron told Bloomberg.

Despite a hometown company adding its voice to the list of those expressing grave concerns about the new tariffs, Rep. Braun continues to downplay their impact on Hoosier manufacturing and agriculture. He has repeatedly made clear businesses should simply ride out the tariffs, calling reactions from companies like Kimball “overdramatized” in an April interview. Rep. Braun seems far more concerned about praising the President for waging a trade war than heeding the warnings of Indiana’s economy.

“Rep. Braun can try to shut out Hoosier manufacturers’ warnings about tariffs all he wants, but unfortunately now they’re coming from down the street. Hoosiers in every sector of the economy are noticing he’s more concerned with blindly following the Trump Administration than listening to their concerns,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Just this past Monday, Rep. Braun told Hoosier farmers to ‘take a leap of faith’ when it came to tariffs. Is that the advice he’d give to businesses like Kimball who might be forced out of his hometown because of them?”

###