The head of the AFL-CIO this week strongly backed new Trump administration tariffs on nations that cheat on trade deals and mocked “hysteria” and “exaggeration” from reporters who said the taxes would hurt Americans -- and even double the price of dog food.

Asking where the press was when blue collar workers lost their jobs when past trade deals were not enforced by previous presidents, Richard Trumka welcomed President Trump’s actions to change the rules.

“It’s time to rewrite those rules and I think he understands that that’s what should be done,” Trumka told a media roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

And when confronted by CNN and Reuters reporters who claimed tariffs would cost consumers and farmers, Trumka forcibly pushed back, accusing them of over-hyping concerns and overlooking the impact deals like NAFTA have had on his members.

During the session, one reporter claimed that tariffs would raise the prices of dishwashers and dog food, and asked why consumers “should endure that to help a steelworker.”

Initially Trumka said mockingly, “My dog probably will suffer tremendously because dog food is tariffed.”

But when the reporter then claimed tariffs would double dog food prices, he shot back, “You know that’s not true. You know that exaggeration is what makes this a tough debate to have, because when somebody says let’s have fair trade, you say, ‘Double Dog Food Prices,’ and that’s not true. The dog food prices probably will be imperceptible, if they are a little bit you won’t notice them. But if they put thousands of people back to work in industries because we have fair trade, is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

And when a CNN reporter said tariffs were hurting soybean farmers, Trumka said, “First of all I’m not so sure it is -- the results are any way near as catastrophic as you imply they are.”

And, he added, “the hysteria about there’s a trade war and the sky is falling is simply inaccurate and does a disservice to the country.”

Trumka called on the media to look at the impact of trade on all workers and conceded that getting “back to equilibrium” may initially hurt some industries.

“What about the manufacture worker, what about the steel worker, did their interest count? And whose interests count more? Look, this is the country we’re talking about. When you go through this you’re going to come up with what’s good for the country. And sometimes what’s good for the country may be bad for Joe or Jane in the short term. But in the long term, if its good for the country it’s going to be good for everybody. And if we get agreements that are fairly enforced, that farmer is going to get a fair shake,” he told CNN.

In endorsing tariffs on bad trading partners like China, he said, "What are tariffs designed to do...they are designed to protect something aren’t they? There is nothing wrong with that.”

But he also expressed frustration with the debate. “I get frustrated because it's tough to have a conversation because people go to the extremes. You’re either a free trader or you’re a damn protectionist, that’s not so. There’s a massive amounts in between,” said Trumka.