RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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With fewer than 100 days to go before the 2026 midterm election, Republicans see an opportunity to score points on their Democratic colleagues on an unlikely issue: tariffs .
The National Republican Congressional Committee on Tuesday launched a digital advertising campaign — shared exclusively with CNBC — that targets vulnerable House Democrats and Democratic candidates in competitive districts who oppose President Donald Trump 's tariffs against China and other countries.
The ads attempt to link Democratic opposition to Trump's tariffs with support for China, though those targeted have largely fought the White House's import duties on the grounds that they increase costs for American consumers and hurt agricultural producers and U.S. allies.
"House Democrats had a simple choice: stand with American workers or side with Communist China. They chose China. Voters won't forget who stood with American workers and who stood with Beijing," NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement.
The ads will run on social media in 15 districts in California, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania and feature the words "China first. America last" emblazoned next to images of battleground Democrats. The NRCC described it as a "modest ad buy," but would not disclose the amount spent.
The ads appear as both parties jockey for congressional control in the waning months of this election year and as Republicans attempt to overcome Trump's low approval ratings and general angst about the state of the economy to hold on to their narrow majority in the House. Democrats are widely favored to win back the chamber.
"House Republicans are so out of touch they are unironically bragging about their price-hiking tariffs that everyone hates," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton said in a statement. "It's wild that they are antagonizing millions of American families with an ad saying: House Republicans are proudly making your life more expensive."
Trump has made tariffs a key economic policy in his second term and recently reimposed new import duties on dozens of countries and the EU after the Supreme Court dealt the administration a blow earlier this year by striking down many of the levies that had already been in effect.
On Friday, the White House announced new tariffs on 60 trade partners — including China — and set import duties between 10% and 12.5%, citing alleged labor violations.
Trump has argued tariffs are key revenue-generating tools that can even the playing field for U.S. businesses. But reception to his trade policy has been mixed, even among Republicans. And inflation and consumer prices have remained stubbornly high as Trump has promised tariffs would make U.S. jobs more plentiful and that goods in the country would become more affordable.
Some in the GOP have rebuffed the president, voting against some of his tariffs. And polling on Trump's trade policy and his handling of the economy in general has been unfavorable of late.
In CNBC's All America Economic Survey , which polled 1,000 registered voters in July, 60% of respondents said they disapproved of Trump's handling of the economy, and 73% said the current state of the economy was only fair or poor.
According to a Harris poll conducted in late February for The Guardian , seven of 10 Americans said Trump's tariffs had led to higher prices.
But some industry groups have welcomed tariffs, including the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a lobbying group that represents U.S. manufacturing companies that want more federal protection from foreign competition.
"The administration's new labor tariff action is an important acknowledgment that the unlimited duty-free tariff era is over," CPA President Jon Toomey said in a statement after Trump's latest tariffs were announced . "Critics in Congress should explain why putting American workers, farmers and ranchers into unfettered price competition with like-product producers in other countries makes sense."
Democrats have campaigned heavily on rolling back Trump's tariffs if they take majority in Congress, and some of the House members targeted in the ads — like Reps. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, Dina Titus of Nevada and Emilia Sykes of Ohio — voted to overturn Trump's Canada tariffs.
Cleaver has spoken about how tariffs on China, which is one of the largest international buyers of U.S. agricultural products, have hurt farmers. Others, like Titus and Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., have criticized the broad application of Trump's tariff policy, while arguing U.S. trade policy should be used to confront adversaries like China.
Others targeted by the NRCC ads — like Paige Cognetti and Janelle Stelson , both of whom are running to unseat GOP incumbents in Pennsylvania — have argued that the cost of tariffs falls to Americans, rather than the countries, including China, on which they're imposed.
Eric Chung , a Democratic candidate running in Michigan's 10th congressional district who is targeted, has said tariffs can be "useful tools" but have been ineffective in their application.
"We cannot use all tariffs all the time. Sometimes we have to introduce economic carrots that can incentivize the return of industry," Chung says on his campaign page .
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