How Have Members of Congress Reacted to President Trump's Trade Policy?

Abstract

While a number of studies in recent years explore the particularistic tendencies of presidents-targeting various benefits to districts and states that will help their and their party's electoral prospects-little work has explored how members of Congress react to such behavior. We take some initial steps in this regard by examining how members have responded to President Donald Trump's trade initiatives. We analyze congressional newsletter mentions of tariffs or trade as a means of exploring congressional reaction. We find a positive relationship between tariff/trade mentions and partisanship, as Republican members and members from states that Trump won in 2016 are more likely to refer to tariffs/trade in their newsletters. This represents, we argue, a different kind of credit claiming. These basic empirical patterns set the stage for more systematic analysis in the future.