Trump to veto US Senate bill limiting his tariff power: White House

The measure introduced last week by Senators Chuck Grassley (Republican from Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (Democratic from Washington) “would severely constrain the President’s ability to use authorities long recognised by Congress and upheld by the courts to respond to national emergencies and foreign threats,” Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said.

The US President would veto a bipartisan bill aimed at mandating congressional approval of all tariffs when those arrive on his desk, the White House has cautioned.
The step “would severely constrain the President’s ability to use authorities long recognised by Congress and upheld by the courts to respond to national emergencies and foreign threats,” Trump’s Office of Management and Budget said.

The Trade Review Act also “eliminates leverage over foreign trading partners, inhibits reshoring and supply chain resilience, fosters market uncertainty, and introduces procedural micromanagement,” the OMB statement of administration policy noted.

Republican Senators Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine have also cosponsored the Grassley-Cantwell bill.

The bill would require the executive to have any new tariffs agreed to within 60 days by US Congress, which would have to get votes in favour of bill by two-thirds of its members in both chambers to overcome Trump’s veto, which seems almost impossible.

“Trade wars can be as devastating, which is why the founding fathers gave Congress the clear constitutional authority over war and trade. This bill reasserts Congress’s role over trade policy to ensure rules-based trade policies are transparent, consistent, and benefit the American public. Arbitrary tariffs, particularly on our allies, damage US export opportunities and raise prices for American consumers and businesses,” Sen. Cantwell said in a statement.

“As representatives of the American people, Congress has a duty to stop actions that will cause them harm,” he noted.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)