U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., came before the group that he was president of 45 years ago as a Falls Church businessman this Tuesday, cautioning the monthly meeting of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce about the dire consequences of the Trump administration’s current tariff policy.

Beyer, who represents the 8th Congressional district of Virginia that includes the City of Falls Church, said Trump’s current tariff policy “is the dumbest thing since the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930 that led to the Great Depression.”

Beyer addressed the tariffs, tax policy and federal budget proposals of the Trump administration, and then spoke about measures that are being developed at the local level to address these.

On the upbeat side, he spoke about the promise of controlled thermonuclear fusion energy as the head of the Congressional Fusion Caucus, noting that a contract for the first commercial fusion reactor ever has been signed between Commonwealth Fusion in Massachusetts and the Virginia Dominion Power. It is slated to be constructed on a site in Chesterfield County.

Fusion, Beyer said, which requires only water as fuel and has no waste, is a veritably limitless source of energy that will end poverty and halt climate change in our lifetimes.

He also touted the positive promises of AI, noting how it could lead readily to information sharing that could prevent the current 10,000 deaths a year in the U.S. that are owing to misdiagnoses. Investing in research and development is the key to the future, he said.

Beyer said that the Trump tariff effort “is alienating our friends, will be paid for by U.S. importers and passed onto American consumers, are causing instability and consumer confidence that has been the lowest in decades.”

He singled out Trump advisor Peter Navarro, saying, “99 out of 100 economists disagree with him.”

Current Trump moves, he said, are undermining the Bretton Woods system established in 1948 that has created the longest period of sustained growth ever, lifting billions of people out of poverty and, since NAFTA, creating 150 million jobs in the last 25 years.

He said Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) operation’s approach “has been the wrong way to address the federal deficit.” He argued that there are “no easy solutions” and Musk’s promises have been lowered from finding $2 trillion in cuts to $150 billion.

There have been 125 lawsuits filed against the DOGE layoffs of federal workers and shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development while the chaotic policy that has resulted in some workers being hired back continues to prevail.

Beyer touted a May 3 Job Fair for Federal Workers and Contractors that will be held at the George Washington Middle School in Alexandria from noon to 3 p.m.

The event, organized by Beyer in partnership with the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church and the counties of Arlington and Fairfax, is described as “a networking and hiring fair, with over 50 hiring companies participating.

There are over 10 thousand jobs available, Beyer said, and career counsellors will also be on hand.

While he acknowledged that Falls Church “might be in the best shape” among Northern Virginia jurisdictions, “we need to be ready to adapt” as the effect of Trump’s layoffs begin to impact the region.

He said he’s met with representatives of the five big defense contractors in this region, as well as local leaders like Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi and Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay.

He concluded by noting “how well governed the localities are in this region,” adding, “You can be very proud.”