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Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts speaks at the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce meeting on Tuesday at the Country Club of Lincoln. He said he expects the global trade war spurred by President Donald Trump's tariffs to be "settled down" ahead of next year's midterm elections.
Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts said Tuesday he expects the global trade war spurred by President Donald Trump's tariffs to be "settled down" by next year even as he acknowledged that Trump "doesn't share his strategy." In remarks to Lincoln business leaders at a lunch Tuesday, Ricketts said the president — who earlier this month imposed a baseline 10% tariff on all imports and 145% tariffs for more than half of China’s exports to the United States — is trying to "level the playing field" with trade partners who he said have received "a sweetheart deal" for decades.
The state's former governor acknowledged that the tariffs — which also include a 25% tax on cars and car parts following separate 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum — will bring "disruption as we get this whole system changed." "It's going to create some uncertainty," Ricketts said at Tuesday's Chamber of Commerce luncheon, which was open to the press. "I expect this to all get wrapped up, and then by the time we get to next year, that it's kind of settled down.
That would be my estimate of what the administration is doing. People are also reading..
. "Now, the administration doesn't — President Trump kind of plays his cards close to his vest, doesn't share his strategy. This is what I observe when I see what they're doing.
" Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts speaks at the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce meeting on Tuesday at the Country Club of Lincoln. He said he expects the global trade war spurred by President Donald Trump's tariffs to be "settled down" ahead of next year's midterm elections.
His remarks come as Trump's escalating tariffs have unsettled financial markets and worsened the outlook for both the the U.S. and global economies.
In Nebraska, the tariffs have frustrated agricultural producers facing retaliatory tariffs from the European Union, prompted wine and liquor retailers to brace for their impact and raised construction costs for local developers . With the exception of Rep. Don Bacon in Nebraska's competitive 2nd congressional district, the state's Republican congressional delegation has largely signaled faith in the president's approach to trade.
That continued Tuesday at the Lincoln Country Club, where Ricketts cautiously defended Trump, who he said "had to bring out the big stick and use threats to get countries to the table, to get them serious about negotiating stuff." "Proof will be in the pudding," Ricketts said. "You've still got to actually get the trade deals done, right? I mean, he's got the world's attention.
but he hasn't actually signed any trade deals yet, so he's still got to get it done." "This stuff is hard," he added later. Nebraska Sen.
Pete Ricketts speaks at the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce meeting on Tuesday at the Country Club of Lincoln. He said he expects the global trade war spurred by President Donald Trump's tariffs to be "settled down" ahead of next year's midterm elections. Looming for Trump — and Ricketts — is next year's election cycle, which Ricketts cited as his rationale for why the trade war may be settled by 2026, noting Trump "is going to be concerned about" midterms as Republicans hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate.
Ricketts is among Republican senators who will have to face voters next November, when he is expected to square off with Dan Osborn, an independent who ran a closer-than-expected race against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer last year. Reaction to Francis’ death; a chance at Picasso; feel-good football Top Journal Star photos for April 2025 Construction worker Gustavo Leverman works on a home in the 800 block of West Avondale Street on Tuesday.
Rising costs for building materials like lumber due to tariffs have raised the average cost of building a home. Luke Shaner peeks through a fake dinosaur egg with his toy T-Rex at the Jurassic Quest event Friday at the Sandhills Global Event Center. Lincoln East's Carter Harmes (3) high fives his teammates after scoring a run as he heads back inside the dugout in the second inning of the HAC baseball championship at Den Hartog Field on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Lincoln Star goalkeeper Yan Shostak (33) blocks a shot by Sioux City's Nikita Klepov (92) as he is backed up by teammate Gio Digiulian (17) during the second period in Game 1 of a USHL Western Conference semifinals series Friday, April 18, 2025, at the Ice Box. Damien Rodriguez (front to back), Jason Bell and Cesar Gonzalez, who competed as the team “Three Blind Mice,” pull a plane on Saturday during the Woman in Aviation Cornhusker Chapter's 2nd Annual Plane Pull at the Lincoln Airport. Loren Eiseley Society vice president Thomas Lynch (from left), society president Bing Chen, and Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird unveil a new historical marker honoring writer Loren Eiseley on Friday at Irvingdale Park.
Mary Abebe (left) returns to her seat after being named the 2025 Scottish Rite Educator of the Year as Brenda Barnett and Stacie Coatman congratulate her on Friday at Adams Elementary School. Abebe, who teachers computer science, started at Lincoln Public Schools in 1995 and moved to Adams in 2019. Lincoln Northeast's Lazerek Houston poses for a photo during the 2025 Super State photoshoot at the Lincoln Journal Star on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lincoln.
Omaha Skutt's Molly Ladwig poses for a photo during the 2025 Super State photoshoot at the Lincoln Journal Star on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lincoln. Nebraska head coach Rhonda Revelle (from left) embraces player Natalia Hill at the top of the 6th inning next to Jordyn Bahl during the Creighton game on Wednesday at Bowlin Stadium. Zemi Wolfe records as she dumps water on her mother, Rudi Wolfe, on Saturday at Zeman Elementary School.
The school hosted a color run, picnic, splash towers and other family-friendly events with proceeds going to support the school's summer activities. Protesters with the American Federation of Government Employees union (AFGE) hold a rally outside of the Lincoln VA Clinc at on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Lincoln. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) local representing Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Lincoln VA Clinic rallied Tuesday to stop the attacks on the federal workforce.
Cows graze in the fields below as Sandhill Cranes take flight at sunrise along the Platte River on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Kearney. The Cranes eat corn from the grain fields and then sleep on the sandbars. The largest congregation of sandhill cranes occurs from February to early April along the Platte River in Nebraska.
Gretna East senior Sonora DeFini scores against Lincoln Southwest with a header during a high school soccer game on Monday, April 7, 2025, at Beechner Athletic Complex. Sen. Ashlei Spivey during debate on a bill that would return Nebraska to a winner-take-all presidential election system at the Capitol on Tuesday.
Halsey, a Great Horned Owl, looks through a kaleidoscope of mirrors on display on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Indian Center Inc in Lincoln. Lincoln Southwest's Sole Jones (center) competes against other athletes in heat one of the girls 400m during a track and field invitational at Union Bank Stadium on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Lincoln. A bee covered in pollen buzzes from flower to flower on Sunday, April 6, 2025, at the Sunken Gardens in Lincoln.
Jarrek Renshaw, a lead mechanic, works on an engine in a testing area at Duncan Aviation on Wednesday. Duncan is expanding its engine overhaul facility, which will allow it to test engines for Canadian aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. University of Kansas students Remi Ward (left) and Jess Judd test out their concrete canoe Friday at Holmes Lake.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering hosted a competition in which college students from across the region used their own concrete mixes to design and build canoes -- some more than 20 feet long and weighing more than 300 pounds. The canoes were tested for buoyancy and raced at Holmes Lakes. The event was part of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Mid-America Student Symposium hosted by UNL from Thursday through Saturday.
Rutgers’ Yomar Carreras (left) slides into home as Nebraska’s Will Jesske tags him out on Sunday at Haymarket Park. An early voter drops off her ballot at a drop box at the Lancaster County Election Commission Office, 601 N. 46th St.
, on Friday in Lincoln. The primary election is Tuesday. Nebraska defensive line coach Terry Bradden talks to players during a team practice on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at Hawks Championship Center.
Sandhill Cranes excitedly dance with one another as they begin to stir along the sandbars on the Platte River the morning of Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Kearney.' Hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes have been converging on the Platte Basin for their annual migration to their northern breeding grounds. Every spring, as sandhill cranes are migrating to their breeding grounds, cranes without partners will start pairing up.
During this time, the cranes perform dancing displays. Although the dancing is most common in the breeding season, the cranes can dance all year long. Sometimes the dance involves wing-flapping, bowing, and jumping.
Jacob Huebert, president of the Liberty Justice Center, argues at the Nebraska Supreme Court in a case over the city's ban on guns in public places on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at the Capitol. Gov. Jim Pillen (right) greets World War II veterans Clare Sward (from left) and Jay Cawley on Tuesday in Lincoln.
Lincoln Pius X's Tatum Heimes (from left) and Ana Patera look on as Gretna East's Lily Frederick (far right) celebrates a goal with teammate Madi Shelburne during a high school soccer game on Monday, March 31, 2025, in Lincoln. Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or [email protected] .
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