WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) released the eighth episode of “Spill the Tea with Chair Meng” with Senator Andy Kim (NJ), who made history as the first Korean American elected to the United States Senate and the first Asian American senator from New Jersey.
CAPAC Chair Grace Meng and Senator Andy Kim discuss how the Trump administration’s policies are driving up costs, squeezing families, and pushing the American Dream further out of reach for AANHPI communities
Excerpts from the episode are below.
On AANHPI perspectives under this administration:
“Just a few weeks ago, I was speaking to a Korean American elderly gentleman who had been in this country for decades at this point. He told me that he is heartbroken about what he is seeing in this country, and the chaos and the lack of concern that is coming out from this Trump administration. And he tells me this is not the America that he and his family sacrificed so much to come to. He wanted to do his part as an 85-year-old Asian American senior citizen to help improve and shape the way for his next generation,” said CAPAC Chair Grace Meng.
On tariffs impacting AANHPI-owned businesses:
“A tariff is essentially a tax. It’s a tax upon the consumer. And it’s so clear when I go visit these small businesses, whether they’re importing goods from Korea, Japan, India or elsewhere…they can’t afford these tariffs. As a result…it’s hurting these small businesses. But then they clearly have to put forward that price towards the consumer. And that’s hurting them because they built these relationships with their own community. They don’t want to have to raise these prices,” said Senator Andy Kim.
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander adults largely disapprove of how Trump is handling a range of issues. Compared with the general public, a higher percentage of AAPI adults disapprove of how he is handling trade with other countries (75% vs. 63%), foreign policy (74% vs. 59%), immigration (71% vs. 56%), the economy (74% vs. 62%), and crime (63% vs. 53%). Meanwhile, Trump’s tariffs are crushing 3 million AANHPI-owned small businesses across the country, forcing many to raise prices by 20 to 50 percent just to keep their doors open.