A handful of House Republicans have introduced legislation that would give Congress the option of blocking tariffs proposed by the president, a response to President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs that will soon take effect.
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, proposed the bill with five other Republican cosponsors.
According to a summary of the bill, it would “provide for congressional review of the imposition of duties and other trade measures by the executive branch.” It was proposed just days after Trump said he would hit most U.S. trading partners with a 25 percent tariff on steel, and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum.
This month, Davidson said he worries that the tariffs will disrupt trade, and undermine the low-tax environment Trump has pushed for in the tax reform bill.
“A lot of the good that has been done in the deregulatory space, with tax policy and everything else, I think will be swiftly damaged,” he said.
“It is a very big miss in my opinion, especially from the opening salvo of a ‘trade wars are easy to win’ battle plan,” Davidson added.
Other Republican sponsors of his bill are Reps. Trent Kelly of Mississippi, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Ralph Norman and Mark Sanford of South Carolina, and Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania.
