Roger Marshall praises Trump’s tariff policies after Kansas executive says they hurt his business
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, discounts the experience of a Meriden businessman's concern that global demand for U.S. products was diminished by President Donald Trump's tariffs during a candidate forum Oct. 16, 2026, at Great Overland Station in Topeka. Marshall is in a tight reelection campaign with Democrat Adam Hamilton. (Photo by Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — Kansas metal fabrication business executive Zac Surritt says tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump sliced into the company’s global demand and lowered margins, while transportation costs soared and the cost of living for employees escalated.
Surritt, part of the third generation of family leadership at R&S Maintenance in Meriden, took the opportunity Friday at the Great Overland Station in North Topeka to directly ask U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican seeking reelection against Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton, to justify tariffs that forced his business to delay plans to expand the company.
“Our small businesses can’t sit and wait on a promise for things to happen,” Surritt said.
Marshall, who has repeatedly endorsed Trump’s tariff policies and the the president’s war against Iran while on the campaign trail, said the experience of the northeast Kansas industrial millwright, metal fabrication and machine shop company was likely an anomaly.
“I think your experience is different from most of the other manufacturing companies that I have talked to. Most of them are expanding,” Marshall said. “How’s your business?”
Surritt, responsible for strategic growth initiatives at R&S Maintenance, said, “Business has slowed down this year. Our margins aren’t where they were a couple years ago.”
“I wish we didn’t have to do this. I’m tired of seeing jobs leave America,” said Marshall, who affirmed his belief the president was driving manufacturing to the United States. “China is able to use slave labor. That is almost a human rights issue. They use slave labor and dirty energy.”
“So, I want to move jobs back to America,” the senator said. “I think most manufacturing across the state of Kansas is growing because of these tariffs.”
Zac Surritt, part of the third generation of family leadership at R&S Maintenance in Meriden, questions U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall about tariffs during an Oct. 16, 2026, candidate forum at Great Overland Station in Topeka. (Photo by Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
In a separate Topeka appearance Friday also hosted by the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, Hamilton said Trump’s tariff regime had damaging unintended consequences for U.S. businesses. Hamilton said his meetings with most of the largest employers in Kansas revealed criticism among executives of tariffs adopted by Trump and endorsed by Marshall.
“They’ve all told me the same thing. They said, ‘For a business to run well we need stability and predictability.’ What we have today is instability, unpredictability and chaos. This makes it really hard to run a business,” Hamilton said.
He said tariffs could be useful if applied strategically, but knee-jerk actions hurt United States’ interests. He said Congress should reassert itself on tariffs by requiring the president to justify imposition of penalties against trading partners.
“There have been 56 tariff changes in the last year,” Hamilton said. “Often announced at 2 in the morning on Truth Social when the president is maybe upset about somebody or doesn’t like something somebody said. So, we now apply a tariff as a way of getting back with people. That’s not how tariffs are meant to be applied.”
He said Trump blundered by insulting Canada, which annually imported $4 billion of goods from Kansas. The president foolishly cast doubt on the ability of Bombardier to build quality aircraft, he said. Wichita serves as the U.S. headquarters for the aviation company and 1,500 of its employees work in Sedgwick County.
Hamilton, who has urged Marshall to support a negotiated resolution to the war with Iran, said the United States should exit the conflict “as quickly as we can” because it continued to have “a negative impact on America and people of Kansas.” Marshall has backed Trump’s fight against Iran, but expressed eagerness for the war to end.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton on Friday denounces reckless use of trade tariffs and the chaotic political environment in Washington during an appearance hosted by Bob Ross, president of the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce. Hamilton is campaigning to unseat U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican. (Photo by Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
The Trump administration began modifying U.S. tariff policy in a bid to reshape the international economic system to generate revenue for the federal government, reduce trade deficits and revitalize domestic manufacturing. The goal was to reduce foreign dependency and deepen the U.S. industrial base by placing a financial burden on foreign exporters to this country. Trump also relied on the threat and reality of sudden tariff changes to influence negotiations with U.S. trading partners, including China, Canada and Mexico.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported in October that tariffs imposed by the United States in 2025 and 2026 added a 2.9 percentage point increase in inflation on a basket of 67 everyday consumer goods. The New York Federal Reserve estimated consumer prices would have declined during the period without initiation of president’s tariff.
The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C., concluded the average impact of Trump’s tariff policy, in terms of a tax on households, would be $820 per residence in 2026.
Marshall, locked in a toss-up race with Hamilton, echoed in Topeka the support he gave Trump’s tariff program as early as February 2025.
“President Trump put the world on notice,” Marshall said at that time. “America will no longer be taken advantage of. Reciprocal tariffs are strong, strategic negotiating tools that ultimately strike better trade deals, ensure long-term economic growth and strengthen our national security. With President Trump’s leadership, I am confident we will bring more jobs back to our country, prioritize American-made goods and level the playing field.”
In February, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unlawful the tariffs imposed by Trump based on the administration’s interpretation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The U.S. government is working to issue $166 billion in refunds to importing businesses.
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the 3rd District Democrat seeking reelection, said large companies capable of hiring internal legal teams and outside experts had an unfair advantage over small businesses when navigating complex rebate application rules.
The average Kansas small business importer has recovered $49,000 compared to $140,000 paid in tariffs, Davids said.
“Small businesses should not need a team of lawyers or customs specialists to recover money they are owed,” she said. “The businesses with he fewest resources should not face the greatest barriers to recovering their money.”