Broad Business Coalition Asks Congress to Intervene on Trade
Nearly 60 trade groups asked Congress to hold hearings on the president's use of tariffs and quotas on allies, and to consider "whether amendments to existing delegations of authority are necessary to clarify Congress’ important role in the execution of the nation’s trade policy." The letter, sent June 18, also praised Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, for scheduling such a hearing for June 20.
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An amendment that would require tariffs that use national security as a justification to get a vote in Congress before going into effect failed to even get to a vote last week, but some observers think there is a point at which Republicans would decide Trump has gone too far. "I think he's got a lot of room to run," said Edward Alden, a trade expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Derek Scissors, an expert on China's economy at the American Enterprise Institute, said so far Congress has not been moved because the administration has stayed in NAFTA, and most of the tariffs are threats rather than reality. But, he said, after the mid-term elections, there are Republican politicians who are thinking about "a tool to warn the president: 'that goes too far.'"
Scissors said the issue to watch will be how the Commerce Department decides in the national security investigation on auto and auto parts imports. If its recommendations are narrow -- some parts that could be used in military Jeeps, say -- that's one thing, he said. But if it says there should be tariffs on $325 billion in auto and automotive imports, that will be quite another. "I'm hearing the administration wants to take action on autos before the election," he said.