Trade wars already looming large in NC's 26 US Senate race

A lot of politics, nationally and locally, since 2015 has been a referendum on Donald Trump. This has put many in a tough position politically, since they may want to affirm many things advocated for by the president while strongly opposing others. In the upcoming 2026 US Senate race, North Carolina candidates will have to walk this tightrope once again, this time with special attention to the president’s actions on international trade.

That was certainly seen this week, as candidates for the seat positioned themselves in relation to the latest trade moves by Trump.

First, the incumbent, Sen. Thom Tillis, made clear he is not just rubber stamping whatever the executive branch decides to do on trade. Tillis joined a bipartisan group of senators, which included seven Republicans, that sponsored a bill to require the White House give Congress two days prior notice, including detailed justification, before implementing any new tariffs.

This would give Congress a chance then to vote to disapprove of the tariffs. Without congressional approval, tariffs would expire in 60 days. “The Trade Review Act of 2025,” S. 1272, has a House companion bill that also has Republican sponsors.

Tillis also received attention this week on the trade front for asking “Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?” during congressional hearings on the tariffs.

 Tillis debated fiercely with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, asking him how “the people in the trailer park that I grew up in, who are going to bear the brunt of some of these short-term cost increases” are going to likely feel about this in 2026.

Naturally, many Trump loyalists were not too pleased with Tillis so aggressively pushing back against the president and his trade plans. Many called for a primary opponent to replace Tillis as the Republican nominee in 2026, and rumors swirled that Trump may be working on a plan to achieve this, involving current US Congressman Pat Harrigan, R-NC10; and former state Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Corroboration for this rumor was not forthcoming, but it was widely discussed online.

 On the other side of the aisle, Democrats sought to tie Tillis to the tariff chaos. Former US Congressman Wiley Nickel, who decided not to run for re-election in his southern Triangle-area district after redistricting shifted it strongly towards the Republicans, announced he is going to run in hopes of wrestling the seat from Tillis in 2026.

In his ad, he went straight at the tariff issue: “Sen. Thom Tillis: Time after time on issue after issue, Tillis votes with MAGA extremists for the Trump agenda. He voted for the tariffs that are cratering our economy and driving up prices for North Carolina families. Instead of standing up for our state, he bends the knee for a would-be dictator.”

 A poll of 1,000 North Carolinians in March of 2025 by YouGov for Catawba College showed the vast majority of respondents of all parties believe tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will make prices go up. Interestingly, despite being traditionally known as the more free-trade party, the least likely to believe this were Republicans, although still a strong majority at 74%.

 But while Nickel tried to capitalize off the widespread, bipartisan blowback against price-increasing tariffs, his fellow Democrats seemed to be at best annoyed at Nickel throwing his hat in the ring. Many of the party leadership already have their heart set on former Gov. Roy Cooper as the Democratic challenger to Tillis. An article late this week in NOTUS quoted multiple NC Democratic Party insiders saying Cooper is their pick.

Matt Hughes, a Democratic National Committee member from North Carolina, panned Nickel’s announcement on social media, saying, “Oh look a candidate launching a vanity project for a federal office no one asked him to run for. I’m shocked.”

Hughes was also quoted in NOTUS saying, “It’s always nice to think of another possible candidate out there, but all of the people I know really want Cooper. He is not only the strongest Democrat who can win, he is the strongest candidate of either party who can win.”

The tariff policies and the global trade war that they’ve kicked off are a quickly moving phenomenon. At the moment, Trump has put many of the biggest tariffs on a 90-day pause, after he said some people were getting “yippy” about some unexpected effects on the bond market. But expect many more twists and turns to global trade over the next few months and for those shifts to play a big part in the battle over North Carolina’s US Senate seat.

 David Larson is managing editor of Carolina Journal.