House Republicans Push Legislation to Put Control of Tariffs Back in the Hands of Congress

FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2012 file photo, port workers watch as steel pipes are loaded onto a freighter ship at Cao Feidian Port in Tangshan, in northern China's Hebei province. The European Union asked the World Trade Organization to rule in a dispute over Chinese anti-dumping duties imposed on steel pipes imported from EU countries on Friday Aug. 16, 2013.(AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan, File)

Because tariffs are a horrendously bad idea.

I’ve had my doubts about the GOP’s ability to do what is right for the people, lately. They seem so afraid of standing up to the con artist in the Oval Office that they let him get away with far too much.

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When it comes to those tariffs, however, a few seem to be growing a backbone.

Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson joined with a handful of other Republicans to introduce a bill that would require any tariffs the president is considering to pass through Congress, first, giving them the option of paring back, or even blocking those tariffs.

According to a summary of the bill, it would “provide for congressional review of the imposition of duties and other trade measures by the executive branch.” It was proposed just days after Trump said he would hit most U.S. trading partners with a 25 percent tariff on steel, and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum.

And it’s good that Congress is finally attempting to move on this.

Utah Senator Mike Lee proposed a similar bill in June 2017, to put such economic powers back in the hands of elected representatives, rather than to allow such unilateral power over our economic climate to rest with the president.

A worry now is that any gains made through the recently passed tax reform bill would be lost in an inevitable trade war.

Rep. Davidson explained:

“A lot of the good that has been done in the deregulatory space, with tax policy and everything else, I think will be swiftly damaged,” he said.

“It is a very big miss in my opinion, especially from the opening salvo of a ‘trade wars are easy to win’ battle plan,” Davidson added.

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He was referring to Trump’s nonsensical tweet about how easy trade wars are to win.

I mean, if a depressed economy and heavily inflated prices on necessary goods is “easy” or “winning,” then, yeah. Ok.

Joining Davidson in co-sponsoring this bill are North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, Rep. Trent Kelly, of Mississippi, South Carolina Reps. Mark Sanford and Ralph Norman, and Rep. Glenn Thompson, of Pennsylvania.

And this is likely one of those bills that will get a lot of support, since sinking allies, along with our economy, is something that will stick to a party long after the current dope in the Oval Office is gone.

 

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