Corker Amendment to Restrict Section 232 Tariffs Blocked
An effort to add an amendment to the Senate farm bill that would require approval from Congress for Section 232 tariffs to go into effect was stopped on June 27. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who said steel towns in his home state of Ohio have been devastated, blocked a vote on the amendment sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. Brown, a Democrat who largely supports President Donald Trump's approach on trade, said that Canada and Mexico "are primary targets for transshipment" of unfairly traded steel from China, and said that everyone has "seen the tricks China uses to get around the antidumping and countervailing duty laws."
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He asked: "Why would any senator vote to let China off the hook?" Corker, speaking passionately on his amendment on the Senate floor, responded: "I've never heard of a trade policy where you punish your friends in order to get at someone [else]."
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said tariffs on steel and aluminum that have been imposed on every country in the world, friend and foe alike, have nothing to do with the national security concerns cited by the administration. He said the commerce secretary admitted as much in testimony in Congress. "It's about getting Canada to agree with the changes to NAFTA we want. I don't agree with those changes in the first place!"
Brown initially said he was concerned about the tariffs being imposed on Canada and Mexico, but then said when he talked to the U.S. trade representative June 26. The USTR told Brown that NAFTA negotiations would resume after the elections in Mexico and that the tariffs will be part of that discussion "as they should be," Brown said. Canada has said repeatedly that Section 232 tariffs are not linked to NAFTA, and it will not allow them to be linked. Corker said he understands that senators may want to vote against the amendment, but he asked why it can't even be voted on. "I didn't think the point of the Senate was to avoid votes on issues that are tough," he said.