Healey says Trump is hurting the economy: ‘Tariffs are not a good thing for us'

Days before President Donald Trump's promised "Liberation Day" of tariffs, as he's dubbed this Wednesday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey criticized the nation's chief executive for taking steps she says are harming the country and the commonwealth.

"I've said from the outset where the Trump administration is working with Massachusetts -- supporting our economy, our businesses, our residents -- sign me up," Healey, a Democrat, said Monday in remarks to the Charles River Regional Chamber. "But when the administration does things that hurt our economy, hurt our businesses, hurt our residents, I'll be the first to stand up. And unfortunately, we've seen some things come to pass that I think are getting in our way."

Healey focused in on the Republican president's tariffs in particular. The president has promised that Wednesday will be "Liberation Day," when he plans to roll out a set of tariffs that will free the U.S. from foreign goods. But he has yet to release details on what exactly his plan entails.

"I tend to believe tariffs are not a good thing for us," Healey said. "When you talk about housing, where do you think the lumber comes from? Canada. And the gypsum and other materials for housing? Mexico."

"I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with Canadian governors," she said. "Everyone is so worried about this and how this is going to wreck both of our economies. It's not good. It's so unnecessary. When they go into effect, they raise costs for consumers and they weaken our economy. We're going to see prices go up on everything."

As governor, Healey said she wants to see as much capital deployed in the state as possible. But because of all the uncertainty, she said everyone is sitting on their money.

"That is not good for our state, not good for our country," she said. "That is what's happening around the United States right now with all this chaos and uncertainty. And the back and forth about what's going to happen and what's not going to happen on so called 'Liberation Day.' I wish he would focus on liberating us from actually higher costs and inflationary pressure and also make us stronger as a country."

She noted that economists started dialing back forecasts for U.S. economic growth last week. Stocks also saw heavy selling to open the week Monday morning ahead of Trump's planned "Liberation Day" announcement Wednesday.

"Don't listen to me, I was a liberal arts major," Healey said. "Listen to them, because they say these tariff policies are driving up prices for both businesses and consumers and slowing down overall economic growth."

"I don't think that's what people voted for. I hate to see harm going to American businesses and I hate to see how much it's helping our competitors."

James Greene, with Planet Subaru in Hanover, isn't sure what to expect, but suspects the cost of cars and parts will go up.

“We really want our customers to feel like they’re getting the best deal possible and that’s probably not the most beneficial thing, when a customer comes in one week and a price of a car is 30 grand, and then come in the next week and the car is 35 grand,” he said.

But competition may also go down, some business owners said, against other countries they have been competing against.

After several decades of losing job bids to Canada, Lowell Iron and Steel Company President Dennis Scanell said he expects to finally hire back more staff.

“I think we’ll finally, within six months, I think we’ll feel the effect,” he said.

The businesses we spoke with have advice for consumers worried about the cost of goods rising: buy now before the new inventory affected by the tariffs comes in.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.