Rand Paul mocks Trump's tariff policy: 'I have a trade deficit with my grocery store'

David Edwards
April 8, 2025

RAW STORY

Rand Paul. (CNBC/screen grab)

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) mocked the way President Donald Trump calculated his so-called reciprocal tariffs by noting that trade deficits were not necessarily evidence of one side losing.

During a Tuesday interview on CNBC, Paul told conservative host Joe Kernen that Trump's tariff policy was "backwards and upside down."

"It's based on a fallacy," the senator explained. "And the fallacy is this, that somehow in a trade, someone must lose, that somehow when you trade with someone, there's a loser and someone's taking advantage of you and China's ripping you off or Japan's ripping you off."


"Every trade that occurs in the marketplace is mutually beneficial," he continued. "You could artificially do this accounting between countries and say, oh, trade deficit. Look at this trade deficit. But I have a trade deficit with my grocery store."

Kernen pointed out that some Democrats supported Paul's point of view while Republicans were largely silent.

"The support and praise from Republicans, you're saying that you're getting it, but these are individuals that you don't even want to be on the record for saying that," the CNBC host observed.

"It's a quiet whisper, and people come up to me in the hall," Paul replied. "They whisper in my ear, free trade is good. Keep going. Keep going. But they don't want to say it because of the politics of it."

Watch the video below from CNBC.