The Last Chance To Curtail Trump’s Tariff Powers?
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose huge new tariffs on goods imported into the United States, a tax increase that could cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
Unless Congress acts soon, Trump might be able to do it all without a single vote by the country’s elected representatives.
Opponents of Trump’s tariff plans—including business groups and trade associations whose members would be hit with those higher costs—are eyeing the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress as possibly the last, best hope of yanking some tariff powers back from the chief executive. With a small Democratic majority in the Senate and President Joe Biden in the White House until January, there is at least a slim hope that lawmakers could restore some of the balance of power over trade policy.
“President-elect Trump’s aggressive tariff proposals, including across-the-board tariff increases on our closest allies, will have significant economic and foreign policy consequences, including higher prices for consumers and businesses, potential trade wars, and disruptions to supply chains,” Ed Brzytwa, vice president of international trade for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), told Reason via email. Previously, the CTA estimated that Trump’s tariffs could add as much as 40 percent to the sticker price for gaming consoles and also increase the price of items like smartphones, laptops, and televisions.
“To prevent these outcomes, the Congress should immediately consider and pass the No Taxation Without Representation Act,” Brzytwa wrote.
That bill, authored by Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.), would require congressional consent before a president could impose new tariffs. When he introduced the bill in September, Paul said it would restore “a core principle of American governance” by ensuring Congress approved new taxes.
“Unchecked executive actions enacting tariffs tax our citizens, threaten our economy, raise prices for everyday goods, and erode the system of checks and balances that our founders so carefully crafted,” Paul said in a statement.
In addition to restoring a balance of power over trade policy, advocates of t
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