Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Wednesday that President Trump’s tariffs on metals were standing in the way of the trade deal update his administration negotiated with Canada and Mexico.
Grassley said he came to that conclusion after recently speaking with Canadian and Mexican officials.
“It’s pretty clear to me after visiting with the foreign minister of Canada last week, and the ambassador from Mexico to the United States, that they are not going to move until all those tariffs are gone,” said Grassley, referring to steel and aluminum tariffs Trump put in place using national security powers.
Canada and Mexico have to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, for it to be finalized. Congress also must vote for it.
”If the motive of putting the tariffs on in the first place was to let people know that you’re serious about doing something, and they’ve done it now, they’ve delivered … then there’s no purpose for the tariffs,” said Grassley. “That’s how I see it, I don’t know how the president sees it.”
Grassley is encouraging his staff to come up with bipartisan legislation to lift the administration’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as the president has yet to do so despite reaching the agreement in principle. Congressional Democrats and Republicans have objected to the tariffs.
“I want to help the president to get to the endgame,” Grassley told reporters at the Capitol. “What can I do to help the president get USMCA passed? And I think I’ve drawn the conclusion that my help ought to be, ‘How do we get off of this business of tariffs generally?'”
Grassley said that he believes Congress delegated too much power in enabling the White House to declare tariffs for national security purposes.
