Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who also chairs the Senate Finance Committee, is working on reforming Section 232 tariff authority.
He says Congress gave away their authority on trade to the White House back during the Kennedy Administration.
Agri-Pulse says Grassley is looking for legislators to take back some of the power they gave away.
Grassley says some lawmakers are worried that such a move would upset President Donald Trump. Grassley’s response is “that shouldn’t stop Congress from acting.”
Grassley’s staff has been busy trying to combine two bipartisan bills designed to tone down the president’s authority to impose Section 232 tariffs on foreign countries.
The tariff authority was first put in place to punish other countries that threatened U.S. national security.
“We need reforms to Section 232 that make it clearer where Congress stands on national security and trade,” Grassley says. “Such reforms would make it clearer to our trading partners that when Section 232 is used, Congress stands with the president.”
The Finance Committee’s ranking Democrat, Ron Wyden, says there hasn’t been any agreement yet because both sides of the political aisle have concerns that need to be worked out.
