Baldwin Talks Trump Tariffs at Textile Factory

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin speaks with Steven Arezon. Photo taken March 6, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin visited a textile factory in Milwaukee on Friday to criticize President Donald Trump‘s decision to impose 15% global tariffs.

At Wisconsin Knitwear, 1111 W. Lincoln Ave., Baldwin spoke with members of the Arenzon family, who have operated the factory for two generations. The business is run today by Steven Arenzon, who told the senator the president’s tariffs have injected so much uncertainty into his day-to-day business that he struggles to quote prices for his customers.

In April 2025, the Trump administration announced an unprecedented slate of tariffs, crashing financial markets across the world. In February of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision finding the president’s use of tariffs unconstitutional. The president responded to that decision by invoking an emergency monetary policy provision of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a 10% global tariff on imported goods for 150 days.

The emergency authority only allows the president to impose the tariffs for 150 days, but for manufacturers like Wisconsin Knitwear, uncertainty remains about what comes next.

The company specializes in knit headwear, like beanies and wool caps. It sources fibers from Brazil — fibers that are not easily sourced in the U.S., Arenzon said. He likened stocking materials and setting prices under the Trump administration’s tariffs to gambling. In July 2025, Trump placed a 50% tariff on all Brazilian imports, citing his displeasure with the nation’s internal politics. The president took issue specifically with the criminal prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on a conspiracy charge to commit a coup and hang onto power.

“Why am I paying the price on that?” Arenzon said.

After meeting with Arenzon, and taking a tour of the manufacturing facility Baldwin said the challenges faced there were a “great example of how devastating the Trump tariffs have been on small businesses.”

Baldwin said Trump’s new global tariff of 10% is “as lawless an overreach as the original tariffs are.” The senator clarified that she is not against tariffs in general. “I believe that when countries cheat, when they subsidize their industry, that we can use tariffs as a tool to level the playing field,” she said.

The day Baldwin toured Wisconsin Knit, the U.S. Department of Labor released a new jobs report showing the country lost 92,000 jobs in February. Employment growth has slowed significantly since Trump took office, with many pointing to the president’s unpredictable tariff policy as one factor. Baldwin said the Trump administration and its tariff policies were to blame for the poor job growth, “without question.“

The uncertainty is only made worse by the new war with Iran, which is already impacting the global economy, she said. The senator also said she thought the president was illegally waging the war.

“Our Constitution provides tools for our president to respond to an attack or an imminent attack without coming to Congress first,” Baldwin said. “But this was not that. I have heard nothing in my briefings this past week to suggest that we were under attack or an imminent threat of attack.”

Just a day before the senator’s visit, the Trump administration fired former Department of Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem. Baldwin had previously called for her removal after federal immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.

“This agency is out of control, she needed to go, and I am glad that she is no longer going to be leading this agency,” Baldwin said.