If tariffs create jobs, NC’s Tim Moore says ‘maybe we ought to pay a little more’
“Short-term pain” from the Trump administration’s tariff policies is worth it to break an American addiction to “cheap labor and cheap goods,” a Charlotte-area congressman says.
Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Moore, the former speaker of the North Carolina House, spoke about the impacts of tariffs while touring businesses in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties Friday.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has instituted or threatened tariffs — taxes charged on goods bought from other countries — on a variety of products from countries including India, China Mexico and Canada. Trump claims tariffs will encourage more people to purchase domestically produced goods, improve the country’s trade deficit, when imports exceed exports and boost the number of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.
But critics say the moves triggered global economic uncertainty and that the cost of tariffs to businesses will be passed on to consumers. The U.S. producer price index — a statistic that tracks inflation before it hits consumers— reported its biggest jump in more than three years this month, the Associated Press reported.
Asked about the impacts of tariffs on North Carolina, Moore told The Charlotte Observer that, while they wouldn’t be necessary “in a perfect world,” he believes Trump’s tariffs will address global issues, especially with China. Moore said China is “dumping cheap goods” in the U.S. while infringing on U.S. patents and threatening national security through cyber attacks and other aggression.
“Using tariffs — particularly with them, but then other countries that follow suit with them — is important to get them to stop cheating, to get them to stop engaging in these activities,” Moore said.
Moore said tariffs “clearly can have some impact on” inflation but attributed some of the ensuing inflation to “retaliatory tariffs” from other countries.
“There may be some short-term pain to it, but in the long term we’ve got to fix this,” he said.
Tariffs can create “a level playing field for American manufacturing,” Moore said, by addressing that the U.S. has “gotten addicted to cheap labor and cheap goods.”
“Everybody wants that iPhone, and they want it for, you know, $50 less than if it was made in the US. You know what? If it creates jobs here and it helps sustain jobs, maybe we ought to pay a little more for a product made by Americans,” he said.
Moore said “most businesses understand the need for the tariffs, particularly as it relates in dealing with with China.”
Derrick Murdock, CEO of iPS Packaging and Automation, offered a similar take on recent tariffs. Murdock’s south Charlotte facility, which produces packaging and shipping materials, was one of the businesses Moore visited Friday.
“It has created some uncertainty in everything, but we’re able to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Murdock told the Observer of the tariffs.
Many of the companies iPS works with are “starting to gear up to expand” domestic production, Murdock said.
“It’s making a positive impact. People have got to understand it’s gonna take a while,” Murdock said.
Others are more critical of Trump’s policies.
North Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton said in a statement on the producer price index Trump has “supercharged the rate of inflation.”
“As literally everyone predicted, erratically imposing massive tariffs on goods has raised the cost of everyday items like coffee, clothing and cars,” she said.
This story was originally published August 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
