President Donald Trump's trade policy could cost New Jersey companies $920 million in sales, according to a report by the nation's largest business lobby.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which spent $7 million on the 2016 elections to support Republicans, said the president's tariffs on exports to Canada, Mexico, the European Union and China also could affect the 1.2 million employees in New Jersey whose jobs are dependent on trade.
Most of the exports that would be affected -- $711 million worth -- go to Canada, and include herbicides as well as orange juice, which is brought to Port Newark from Brazil, mixed with sweeter domestic juice, and then shipped out.
Affected exports to the European Union, $133 million, include beauty products.
The report also said Trump's tarriffs threaten $46 million in exports to China, and $30 million to Mexico.
"I don't think trade wars are good for anybody," said Tom Bracken, president of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. "The concerns are the impact on our economy, the reputation we have around the world and the ripple effect of having a war. I can't think of anything good about the trade war."
Such a war could cost jobs, Bracken said.
"There's definitely a fear of that," he said. "If you lose lose business, companies have to make up for that. The biggest expense a company has is people."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that previous trade deals have hurt the U.S.
"We have been in trade deficits with nearly every country across the globe for years, and the president wants to ensure that that doesn't continue," Sanders said.
"The president is committed to making sure we have good deals," she said. "He'd be happy to get rid of all tariffs and all barriers. So if there's countries out there that want to do that, I'm sure he'd be happy to sit down and make that happen right now and move this process forward a whole lot quicker."
The business community isn't the only ones opposed to the Trump tariffs.
Trump's trade policies are unpopular among U.S. voters as well, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.
In the survey, a majority of voters, 52 percent, said Trump's policies will result in a trade war, with 38 percent disagreeing; and 73 percent said such a war will be bad for the economy, with 17 percent saying it wouldn't.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist., said the voters have it right.
"Despite Trump's bluster, trade wars should not be invited and are never easy to win," said Pascrell, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees trade issues. "Waged haphazardly, they can produce a host of collateral damage, harming small businesses, raising consumer prices, and destabilizing sectors ranging from car makers to hog farmers."
Whle tariffs could jeopardize $47 million in exports to China, the U.S. Chamber said, Pascrell said China's unfair practices have cost millions of American jobs.
"Used wisely, the threat of tariffs can be a tool to address abuses and unfair practices from cheating trading partners," he said. "But I fear a chaotic and seemingly ad hoc trade policy will be ineffective in addressing the needs of New Jersey workers and their families."
The poll of 1,020 registered voters was conducted June 27-July 1 and had a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.