The following article by John T. Bennett and Joe Williams was posted on the Roll Call website January 23, 2018:
Despite concerns about pocketbook effects, president imposes tariffs, bad-mouths trade pacts
Even as members of his own party weigh whether Congress has the authority to push back on his trade actions, President Donald Trump on Tuesday slapped new tariffs on solar panels and washing machines.
“It will provide a strong incentive for LG and Samsung to follow through on their recent promises to build major manufacturing plants for washing machines right here in the United States,” Trump said during an Oval Office signing event, adding the actions “uphold a principle of fair trade and demonstrate to the world that the United States will not be taken advantage of anymore.” That echoes a major theme of his 2016 campaign and the first year of his presidency.
But Republican Sen. Ben Sasseof Nebraska issued a statement on Tuesday warning the president against the new tariffs, and other GOP senators openly mused about seeking ways to insert themselves into a testy trade debate.
“Here’s something Republicans used to understand: Tariffs are taxes on families,” he said. “Moms and dads shopping on a budget for a new washing machine will pay for this — not big companies.”
Senate Republicans also discussed Trump’s trade stances at length during Tuesday’s weekly GOP policy lunch. Among the biggest issues raised were the possible withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement and the solar panel and washing machine tariffs.
NAFTA, the action on tariffs and other announcements have “members of the United States Senate looking for ways to make sure their voices are heard on the topic of trade,” Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune of South Dakota said Tuesday that he and colleagues are “trying to push as much as we can the idea that withdrawing from NAFTA would be really bad for the economy.”
Thune, who is also chairman of the Commerce Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, which oversees trade deals, added, “I don’t know if we’ve got any member in the entire Republican conference in the Senate who doesn’t believe that withdrawing from NAFTA is a bad idea.”
One Republican senator, speaking on background to discuss private conversations, said Finance Chairman Orrin G. Hatch of Utah is exploring ways the chamber might be able to block Trump from withdrawing from NAFTA.
View the post here.