Tariffs, due process, and protest: Todd Young visits Bloomington chamber luncheon

On Tuesday, a visit to Bloomington by Todd Young was a chance for Cook Medical's president, Pete Yonkman, to ask Indiana's senior U.S. senator about President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Yonkman described how Cook, headquartered in Bloomington, is a U.S.-based manufacturer, which is what the Trump administration wants. But as Yonkman put it, Cook is being "punished twice" by Trump's tariffs.

Young's response included, on one hand, his view of some legitimate reasons for tariffs, and on the other hand, his support of a bipartisan bill (Trade Review Act of 2025) that would reassert the congressional oversight of foreign trade that is ensconced in the Constitution. Young is one of seven Republicans sponsoring the bill, which has a total of 13 sponsors.

The occasion for Tuesday's back-and-forth between Yonkman and Young was a "Dignitary Discussion" event hosted by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, at the recently renamed Bloomington Convention Center on the corner of 3rd Street and College Avenue. More than 200 people attended the luncheon. The event was sponsored by Cook Medical and Indiana University.

Also giving remarks was IU president Pamela Whitten, who delivered news of record-breaking numbers for the upcoming spring graduation, as well as for applications for fall admission. This spring, IU Bloomington will award 11,019 degrees to 10,684 students. There's been a 58% increase in freshman applications over the past four years, from 47,861 in 2021 to 75,714 applications for the fall 2025 freshman class.

Outside the convention center along College Avenue, demonstrators against Young—for his support of many of the Trump administration's policies—held signs, chanted slogans, and encouraged drivers to honk their horns. The demonstrators started their event at Bloomington's traditional gathering place for protest rallies, at the southeast corner of Monroe County's historic courthouse. The blustery weather conditions sent some signs and headgear flying.

The honking of horns and some chants from the demonstrators were sometimes discernible inside the convention center's second floor luncheon hall. At one point Yonkman told Young: "You can hear those people asking for accountability." Young responded: "It's the sound of freedom…I mean that."

The same sound was a little louder when it came from a woman seated at a table at the event itself, when she called out a question to Young: "Do immigrants deserve due process—yes or no?" Young's answer—in the moment and to a follow up during the post-event press scrum—came with some nuance, but could be analyzed as a yes.

Tariffs: Impact on Cook Medical

During the Q&A, Pete Yonkman described Cook Medical's manufacturing situation with respect to tariffs. Currently, Cook Medical manufactures 60% of its products in the United States, with the remaining production in Europe and Australia. That's different from the medical device industry standard, Yonkman said—more typically, about 70% of medical devices are manufactured in South America, China and Vietnam.

Cook's competitors, who manufacture in South America, can sell more freely into the Chinese market without similar tariff burdens, Yonkman said. This situation means Cook is losing market share in China and has incurred about $175 million in additional tariff-related costs. "We already are what I think this administration wants the world to be, and that is a US-based manufacturer." Yonkman asked Young: "But we're being punished twice. Help me make sense of that."

Young replied by saying that tariffs have been imposed for several reasons, including intellectual property violations by China, lack of cooperation on issues like fentanyl trafficking, and concerns about military investments by allies. But Young advocated for more clarity in trade policy, suggesting tariffs should be targeted, temporary, and aimed at changing the behavior of trade partners.

On Tuesday, Young said he had signed on as a cosponsor to the bipartisan (Trade Review Act of 2025) which reasserts the congressional oversight of foreign trade. Young alluded to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; ..."

As Young put it, "The Constitution, it very clearly lays out that Congress is charged with overseeing foreign commerce and levying duties." Young continued, "So I signed on to a piece of legislation that would reclaim powers that previous generations of senators and members of Congress gave away."

DOGE: Popular elsewhere, but not in Bloomington

At one point, Yonkman asked Young how he viewed the work of the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), which was created by President Donald Trump at the start of his second term in 2025.

Young gave a generally favorable impression of DOGE's work, starting by saying, "There aren't many things that I've encountered since I've been an elected official that are more popular among my constituents than DOGE. Waste, fraud and abuse …" At that point the senator was interrupted by a couple of boos, which prompted Young to add, "Except in Bloomington!" That drew a chuckle from Yonkman and the crowd.

Young continued, saying, "It's not to say that the majority is right, right?" Young added, "The American people need to earn trust back from their institutions. …Probably the most accessible and powerful way for regular Americans, so we can earn trust back, is to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse. And this is literally the labor of this generation and future generations that's being thrown away by inefficiency and neglect and failure of oversight and all the rest."

Immigration: Due process?

Yonkman asked Young about the controversy surrounding several deportations and immigration policy. Young started by saying, "I feel like deporting criminals should not be controversial." That prompted a question called out by a woman seated at a table in the back corner of the room: "How about deporting non-criminals? Should that be controversial?"

Chamber CEO Eric Spoonmore intervened to tell the woman she could join the other protesters outside if she wanted, but if she wanted to stay, she could not interrupt the senator.

Things escalated to a yes-no question from the woman: "Do immigrants deserve due process—yes or no?" An additional question from the woman, which prompted Spoonmore to ask for security, challenged Young's statement that criminals should be deported: "How do you determine if they're a criminal?" The woman departed without incident.

During the luncheon, Young responded to the woman by indicating a general support of due process: "In the next breath, I was about to cover my due process base …" He indicated agreement with the general idea of due process: "We're gonna like violently agree. I'm not gonna say it now, I'm not gonna reward that by saying it. We're gonna violently agree."

During the press scrum after the event, The B Square asked Young why the woman's yes-no question, asking whether immigrants deserve due process, did not get an easy yes. Young responded by saying, "I didn't want to accept the premise, without it being proven by a court of law that there was a deportation of those who aren't illegal, those who aren't here illegally." Young continued, "So that's why I couldn't just say that as yes or no."

Young added, "But I was just about to utter a phrase in terms of my deference to the courts and the need to respect the rule of law as interpreted by the courts. I mean, that's our system." Young said, "It would have been better, had I had the opportunity to actually agree with the person, that instead interrupted me." He wrapped up by saying, "Listen, these are tough times. We're divided in many ways in our country. This person loves our country. I don't doubt they felt passionately about the issue."

Protest: From the courthouse to the convention center

At least 70 people gathered at the southeast corner of the historic Monroe County courthouse about an hour before the chamber's event started, then walked the couple of blocks south to the Bloomington Convention center.

The demonstrators held signs with exhortations to Young like, "Hey Todd, Protect our Constitution!" and "Senator Young!!! Defend the Constitution, not the Donald."

Among those addressing the crowd were Democrat Michelle Higgs, who ran last year for the District 60 State House seat, which was won by Republican Peggy Mayfield.

Higgs said, "We're sending postcards and emails flooding the phone lines. But our elected officials, like Senator Todd Young, are still not listening." She continued, "They're not listening when we say 2 million Hoosiers rely on Medicaid, and that cuts to Medicaid will close rural hospitals and harm Hoosiers. They're not listening when we say defunding and closing public schools silences the heartbeat of our rural and small town communities."

Isaac Chapman-Whitehead, who is the outreach coordinator for IU Democrats, included public education in his remarks to the crowd. He described the administration's approach to education as gutting public schools and giving vouchers to families who don't need them, instead of providing vouchers to families who do need them, or simply funding the public schools.

Photos: Inside the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce 'Dignitary Discussion'

Photos: Demonstration against U.S. Sen. Todd Young's visit