[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 60 (Thursday, April 3, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2173-S2174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Moran, Ms.
Klobuchar, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Warner, Mr. McConnell, and Mr.
Bennet):
S. 1272. A bill to provide for notification to, and review by,
Congress with respect to the imposition of duties; to the Committee on
Finance.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the
important role that Congress plays in ensuring our economy remains
strong, and very important for the American people, to lower costs.
That is why today I am inducing legislation by myself and Senator
Grassley. Congress has a duty to ensure that our country remains
competitive and leads in the global marketplace. American families rely
on our economy for goods and to make ends meet and to provide shelter.
American manufacturers rely on an economy to maintain resilient
supply chains, keep production lines open--and that means aircraft from
Everett, WA, or cars and trucks from Detroit, MI.
American farmers rely on our economy to keep fields planted--
production in eastern Washington and northern and central Iowa depend
on the cost of fertilizer, seed, and equipment.
Small business owners across the country depend on consumer
confidence in our economy so that they can keep sales and stay afloat.
Sharp increases propose a major threat to that economy.
Inflation and high costs are a threat to stability and prosperity of
American
[[Page S2174]]
businesses of all size, to our farmers, and to our consumers. We live
now in an interconnected world--a global economy--and advances in
technology and transportation have brought that world closer and closer
together. We have a global economy.
That is why it is so important to have rules-based trading systems
that have been in place since World War II, and it is the bedrock of a
global economy. That is to have rules. Rules-based trade is essential
to have predictable and stable trade and promoting economic growth and
development and global cooperation.
No doubt, opening up markets has grown the pie, not just for those
economies, but for the U.S. economy. When you establish clear rules-
based mechanisms, you can also resolve trade disputes and encourage
more investment and more trade.
Businesses need this certainty to move forward with deals, to reach
new markets, and grow. But now we are seeing a barrage of tariffs on at
least 185 countries.
We cannot have arbitrary policies create chaos and uncertainty. These
kinds of chaos and uncertainty kill business investment and make for
very challenging stock market assessments of investments for the future
based on predictability.
The current approach, in my opinion, is outside the predictable,
rules-based system. It is arguable that the current approach is
literally a misconstruction of statutory authorities.
But what we know today for sure is that 95 percent of the world's
consumers are outside of the United States. That means the global
middle class includes almost 4 billion people. Those are markets for
American businesses, for farmers to reach to grow and prosper.
According to the World Bank, in the recent decade, trade has lifted 1
billion people out of poverty. My colleagues here, who have worked on
deals in the past that opened up markets in places like Chile, Peru,
Singapore, the Central America Free Trade Agreement, the update of the
USMCA, all know that this hard work created economic opportunity.
Our trade agreements helped American farmers export $176 billion in
agricultural products last year. They helped ensure that the United
States is the world's largest agriculture exporter, with soybeans and
corn leading the way as the top export.
I want to return to trade agreements. I want to open up more markets.
I want us to have a robust export opportunity for the excellent U.S.
manufactured and grown products.
Our trade agreements have ensured that the U.S. remained the second
largest exporter of manufactured goods in the world--$2.06 trillion in
2024.
And it is clear today, the United States must be competing hard to
win in the race for emerging technologies like AI and quantum. Our
foreign adversaries and our competitors are in this global race too.
So that is why economic disruption puts America at risk. Straining
ties with trade alliances also put us at a security risk. Trade wars
have lasting consequences. Trade wars devastate Americans working
families and small businesses and manufacturers.
Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress--gave
Congress--the explicit authority to impose duties and regulate
commerce, given the far-reaching impact to our national economy that I
just mentioned.
As ranking member of the Commerce Committee, and my colleague from
the Senate Finance Committee, we both know how much our Nation needs to
continue to have interstate commerce and to have foreign commerce.
Since the 1930s, Congress has enacted or directed the President to
negotiate trade deals, including authority to negotiate the agreements
and impose or adjust tariffs.
But I think these Presidents have used this authority correctly by
opening up markets, lowering tariffs, and establishing a rules-based
trading system. The current approach, I believe, is creating
uncertainty and certainly raising costs unnecessarily.
Businesses rely on certainty and transparency from a rules-based
trading system. So how has Congress done on these issues? Well, it is
time, I believe, for Congress to reassert ourselves in our
constitutional duties.
Article I of the Constitution also gave Congress the power to declare
war. The Founding Fathers wanted to prevent any single individual from
unilaterally committing our Nation to war. The Founding Fathers wanted
to ensure that we had a strong check and balance.
I believe the same check and balance needs to exist now as it relates
to protecting our commerce activities and any Presidential overreach
that is not a rules-based approach.
Congress, in the War Powers Act, decided to reclaim its authority
because they thought a President had overreached. Senator Grassley and
I are trying to do the same thing today by introducing the Trade Review
Act of 2025.
Trade wars--which frequently trigger sharp price increases, foreign
retaliation, and huge shock impacts to our economy--could affect the
livelihood of workers, supply chain manufacturers, and hard-won markets
that American exporters have wanted to see continue to be open.
I want to thank Senator Grassley for his leadership over many years
for American farmers, for the people of Iowa, and for our country. I
want to thank him for working with me on the introduction of the Trade
Review Act of 2025 that ensures that Congress plays its constitutional
role in making sure that, as our Founding Fathers intended, we set the
duties and regulate foreign commerce.
This important reassertion of Congress's constitutional role is
important so we have a strong voice in trade policy. This legislation,
as I said, modeled after the War Powers Act, says that a President must
notify Congress within 48 hours of imposing or raising tariffs, provide
an explanation of why they are warranted, and an assessment of their
likely impact on American businesses and consumers.
Our legislation, though, protects that constitutional authority by
also saying these tariffs should be reviewed by Congress for approval
or disapproval, and doing so is in the best interest of our country.
I can't tell you how challenging I think competition in a fast-moving
information age global economy is. We can't afford a trade war that
lasts for 2 or 3 years, leaving our product off the shelves.
We must reassert Congress's role over trade policy and ensure that a
rules-based trade system is based on transparency, consistency, and the
benefits of the American public.
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