Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he doesn’t know whether the Senate will take up a bill this week to rein in President Donald Trump’s authority to unilaterally impose tariffs on national security grounds.
“I simply don’t know whether there’s going to be a vote on a Corker proposal,” McConnell said during an interview with Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer of Politico’s Playbook on Wednesday. “I don’t object to having the vote, but I don’t know at the beginning of this process what’s going to happen.”
The majority leader was referring to Tennessee Republican Bob Corker’s trade bill, which would give Congress a say in national security tariffs imposed by the president under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. Trump has used that authority to implement tariffs of 25 percent and 10 percent on foreign steel and aluminum, and he wants to go further, using it to target foreign automobiles as well. Corker argues that Trump is abusing Section 232 in order to employ protectionist trade policies under the guise of national security concerns.
Corker is eyeing the farm bill, which is being considered on the Senate floor this week, as a vehicle to pass the trade measure. The retiring senator initially wanted to include his legislation in a defense authorization bill earlier in the month, but other members objected to holding the vote. McConnell said on Wednesday that the issue will again come down to whether or not members object to holding a vote on the amendment.
“On the defense bill, we had a bunch of my members objecting to other members having amendments,” McConnell said. “So what I’ve counseled my members is—whether this is going to be an uncomfortable vote or not—why don’t we just have a policy internally, we’re not going to block each other’s votes.”
The Kentucky Republican left open the possibility that Democrats could prevent such a vote from happening and suggested that Congress could also take a more lengthy path to craft a bill through regular order. “The Finance Committee is going to take a look at that whole area, which is a matter of some concern to my members,” said McConnell.
His comments come as supporters of Corker’s bill are amping up the pressure on GOP leaders to act. On Tuesday, more than 270 business groups sent a letter to senators urging support for Corker’s effort. And staunch free-trader Jeff Flake is targeting one of McConnell’s foremost priorities by blocking Trump’s judicial nominees as leverage for his demand that Republican leaders hold a vote on the trade bill.
On Wednesday morning, McConnell acknowledged that Trump’s Section 232 tariffs (indiscriminately levied on rivals and close trading partners alike) have led to a number of ill effects for some American consumers and industries, both from rising steel and aluminum prices and from the retaliatory tariffs set in place by other countries.
“Just look at my state for example,” McConnell said during the interview. “We make Toyota Camrys, and the price of the steel seems to be headed up. We’re the home of bourbon—proudly—and the price of bourbon seems to be headed up. So yeah, there, there is concern and we’ve all discussed this with the president a lot. And there may be a legislative solution to it and Orrin [Hatch] is working on that, and I’ll take a look at it.”
But Republican leaders have thus far been reluctant to put forward a bill to reclaim congressional authority over trade matters. In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan has opted to try to convince Trump to back down on the tariffs behind the scenes, rather than working legislatively to address the issue.
Asked whether he thought congressional Republicans would be able to make any legitimate headway with that strategy, McConnell said that Trump would come to his own conclusions.
“I think the president’s pragmatic and I think he will, at some point here, figure out whether this is working or not working, and do the right thing for the country,” McConnell answered.
