In a bold move to alleviate economic strain, Manhattan Democratic congressional hopeful Jack Schlossberg has announced a plan to repeal the controversial tariffs imposed by President Trump on essential goods like food and clothing. This announcement, made to the Daily News, comes as part of Schlossberg’s campaign to ease the financial burden on low and middle-income Americans.
Schlossberg, who carries the legacy of his grandfather, President John F. Kennedy, is advocating for legislation that would eliminate these tariffs. He argues that these taxes disproportionately affect those who are already struggling financially, particularly in a bustling metropolis like New York City.
“These tariffs on food and clothing are particularly damaging,” Schlossberg emphasized in his interview with the News. “New Yorkers are facing an uphill battle to make ends meet, and everyday necessities have become a nightmare to afford.”
Schlossberg, at 32, is part of the iconic Kennedy lineage and has been actively engaging with constituents to understand their challenges. He shared a poignant story of a mother he met at Macy’s during Black Friday. She was shopping for new sneakers for her son, who had already outgrown a pair purchased just a few months earlier at the start of the school year.
“It’s a significant hardship for parents, especially those with young children who are rapidly outgrowing their clothes,” he remarked. “These tariffs are essentially a regressive tax on the everyday lives of ordinary Americans, particularly New Yorkers.”
Despite having no prior legislative experience, Schlossberg is entering a competitive race to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler in New York’s deeply Democratic 12th district. The primary is expected to be fiercely contested, with other notable Democrats like Assemblyman Micah Lasher, City Councilman Erik Bottcher, and Assemblyman Alex Bores also vying for the seat.
Jack Schlossberg’s mother is Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President Kennedy, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is his cousin. The famed family was recently hit by the tragic news that one of Jack Schlossberg’s two older sisters has terminal cancer.
The Democratic hopeful stresses that he broadly opposes Trump’s tariffs, which experts estimate will cost the average family $2,400 a year, and believes Congress should vote to retake its congressional authority to levy them on imported goods. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a challenge to the levies.
But Schlossberg sees a targeted approach to food and clothing tariffs as a potential opening that could win the support of some Republicans and even Trump loyalists.
“We don’t necessarily expect Republicans to break with the president on everything, but this is very specific,” he said. “We’re already seeing the fracturing of his MAGA base on some issues. People are really feeling it.”
Trump recently said he would roll back tariffs on a short list of grocery items, including beef, coffee and bananas, saying he wanted to cushion American consumers from rising prices. But the president did not explain how those products were identified and why the same principle wouldn’t apply to other staple products.
“He’s already shown that this could be a weak point for him,” Schlossberg said.
Trump has spent most of his first year in office sending shoppers and businesses on a chaotic roller-coaster ride of tariffs on imported goods from rivals like China and close allies like Canada, the European Union and Mexico.
The president has offered a laundry list of rationales for the taxes, ranging from geopolitical goals to incentivizing manufacturers to build factories in the U.S.
Trump claims foreign governments or companies pay the tariffs but experts say they are paid by American firms and passed on to American consumers at the cash register.
