Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) expects to propose legislation as soon as Tuesday that would give Congress power to block President Donald Trump’s tariffs, opening a GOP rift over how and whether to push back on the White House’s trade policy.
Corker first revealed his plans to try to rein in Trump’s tariffs on Saturday, tweeting that the White House’s planned penalties on steel and aluminum imports from Mexico, Canada and the European Union "feel like something I could have read in a local Caracas newspaper last week, not in America."
The effort is picking up steam as Corker attempts to get a vote on the proposal during this month’s Senate’s floor debate on the annual defense authorization bill. It’s a long shot given skepticism from Republican leadership, but still a critical test of the GOP’s willingness to take on Trump.
"There’s a lot of interest in it, for what it’s worth," Corker told reporters. "But, you know, doing anything around here is like pushing a major boulder uphill, so we’ll see."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have both criticized the metals tariffs on U.S. allies in recent days, but it’s unclear whether they would entertain a vote on the matter by the GOP-controlled Congress – especially one that would likely draw a presidential veto.
Corker predicted Tuesday that McConnell would "be very receptive from a policy standpoint" to his proposal but "might be concerned from other standpoints."
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters Monday that tariffs are "primarily an executive branch function, and I don’t really see Congress passing and getting a presidential signature on something constraining his authority."
Under Corker’s proposal, he said, lawmakers "would have to approve the implementation" of tariffs imposed using Section 232 of a 1962 trade law that Trump has invoked for national security-related penalties, setting up a future vote to halt or okay them. The Tennessean added that his measure would be retroactive for two years, allowing Congress to take aim at already-announced Trump tariffs using Section 232.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has introduced a separate bill that would require congressional approval over trade decision-making, including tariffs, which is also backed by Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.).
Beyond the steel and aluminum tariffs, the Trump administration has started examining a potential 25-percent penalty on automotive imports, citing national security grounds. Corker blasted the decision to use that national security rationale, warning that it could "basically negate realistic trade agreements" going forward.
"When you can just name anything as a national security issue, then basically you undermine the whole trade agreement process," he said.
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