September 15, 2009 3:20PM # Rep. Flake’s Wise Counsel on the Tire Tariff By [Daniel Griswold](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-griswold) --- SHARE Earlier today, Congressman Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, sent [a letter](http://flake.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=144716) to President Obama urging him to reconsider his decision to impose a 35 percent tariff on tires imported from China. Rep. Flake makes all the right points in his letter, reminding the president that: > Your decision to impose duties on Chinese tires is likely to encourage other domestic industries to file their own petitions for relief under Section 421. The potential for an endless cycle of U.S. restrictions and subsequent retaliation from China is the last thing our economic recovery needs. I wish there were more members of Congress like Rep. Flake. Our [Trade Vote Records](http://www.freetrade.org/congress) feature on our web site offers a searchable data base of all major trade votes going back to the mid-1990s. Our data base confirms that Rep. Flake is the most consistent supporter in all of Congress in opposing both subsidies and barriers to trade. The president should heed Rep. Flake’s wise letter. ##### Related Tags [Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy), [Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).