Freshman Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., introduced the “United States Reciprocal Trade Act” to Congress Friday, offering President Donald Trump sweeping powers to fulfill his campaign promise of tariffs on foreign rivals.
“American manufacturing has endured decades of decline under the globalist system that has hollowed out our industrial base and shipped countless jobs overseas,” reads a statement from Moore on the legislation.
“President Trump was the first national politician in my lifetime to recognize this problem, campaign on it, and work to reverse that trend.”
Moore’s bill paints a picture of American impotence in the face of foreign abuse, as countries lock the United States into unbalanced trade agreements while neglecting their duties as allies.
“Europeans have continued to protect their auto markets from United States automotive companies through high tariffs while dumping cheap European cars into the United States, undermining our automotive industry,” Moore said of U.S. trade partners.
“Canadian and Mexican authorities have flooded American markets with cheap goods while simultaneously allowing for illegal migrants and poisonous fentanyl to pour into the United States.”
Moore’s solution to the problem is to allow Trump to make his own decisions on trade policy, albeit with the expectation that he notify Congress.
“The president must have the authority to levy reciprocal tariffs against unfair trading partners,” Moore said. “The president should have a wide array of tools to open the markets of United States trading partners and encourage participation in negotiations to liberalize trade in goods on a fair and reciprocal basis, including the authority to adjust tariff rates to reciprocal levels.”
While the bill does provide for some oversight from Congress, it offers Trump ample means to apply tariffs amid political uncertainty.
The president is required to provide Congress prior notice of new tariffs, and either House can pass a “disapproval resolution” to render the tariff void—a resolution requiring two-thirds of the members.
With his United States Reciprocal Trade Act, Moore is positioning himself as an ally of the president in Congress, clearing the way for Trump to deliver on his campaign promises.
This early legislation in Moore’s career is reminiscent of fellow freshman Rep. Brandon Gill’s “Remain in Mexico Act,” which codifies Trump’s border policy into law.
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
