Bill That Would Give President Ability to Raise Tariffs Introduced
The U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act, a bill that would give the president the ability to raise tariffs above the bound rate to match trading partners' levels, was introduced by Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., on Jan. 24. The bill has 18 co-sponsors, all Republicans.
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"Unfortunately, the current trade system allows other countries to put massive tariffs on our products without any repercussions. That’s why my legislation would give the President the tools necessary to pressure other nations to lower their tariffs and stop taking advantage of America," Duffy said. "The goal of the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act is NOT to raise America’s tariffs but rather to encourage the rest of the world to lower theirs."
In the release announcing the bill's introduction, Duffy gave examples of non-reciprocal tariffs, including 100 percent on motorcycles in India, 61 percent on beef in the European Union, almost 29 percent on pork in the EU, and 20 percent on chocolate candy in Indonesia. "The lack of reciprocity in tariff levels and non-tariff barriers contributes to the large and growing United States trade deficit in goods, which is a drag on economic growth and undermines economic prosperity," the bill states.
The bill gives the president the ability to hike tariffs in response to non-tariff barriers, as well, and if a trading partner hikes tariffs on U.S. exports in retaliation, the bill gives the president the ability to match those higher tariffs, too.
The Democrats control the House of Representatives. Since this bill has no Democratic co-sponsors, it is unlikely to come to a vote.