President Trump’s plan to ratchet up pressure on China by raising proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods to 25 percent, up from an earlier plan of just 10 percent, has lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Congress wondering what the White House’s ultimate plan is — or if it even has one.
Simply bludgeoning China ever harder isn’t a good strategy, they argue, since it will likely respond in kind, with businesses and consumers taking the brunt of the pain. If the administration has another trick up its sleeve, now is the time to use it.
“Without a coherent strategy, the only people who will pay the price here are American farmers and consumers — not China,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told the Washington Examiner.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, tweeted that the administration’s policy had an “overreliance” on using tariffs. “We cannot keep substituting additional tariffs for a targeted strategy that will actually bring China to the negotiating table,” he tweeted.
Lawmakers from heavily agricultural states expressed particular concern, since China’s retaliation measures have focused on farm products, as have those of other countries involved in trade fights with the U.S.
“Farmers, ranchers, and growers are already feeling the burden of these trade actions and I continue to be concerned about the long term harm to our markets,” Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told the Washington Examiner.
The concerns are compounded by the fact that the administration has conceded that China isn’t likely to budge anytime soon. “China is going to be a longer-term problem,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the Senate Appropriations Committee last week, noting that the administration is trying to get Beijing to change longstanding industrial policies.
Lawmakers have raised similar concerns regarding the tariffs in the past but many have resigned themselves to the stance that the administration cannot not be moved on the issue. Legislation offered by free-traders to tie Trump’s hands on trade has stalled. Leadership on both sides of the aisle made no official comment.
Members of Congress were able to avoid taking a position on the latest tariffs in part because they were not in D.C. The House was out for August recess and the Senate left Wednesday until mid-August.
And the administration defends the escalation as the reasonable stance in negotiating with China. “[T]he reason for the tariffs to begin with was to try to convince the Chinese to modify their behavior. Instead, they’ve been retaliating. So the president now feels that it’s potentially time to put more pressure on in order to modify their behavior,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an appearance on Fox Business Thursday. Raising the tariffs was a direct order from Trump to Lighthizer, according to administration officials.
The $200 billion in tariffs is still at the proposal stage and wouldn’t go into effect for a few months. They would come on top of previously enacted 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods and broad-based tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum, both of which were primarily directed at China. Beijing has already established 5 to 25 percent additional duties on $3 billion in U.S. imports in reaction to earlier White House tariffs. It indicated on Wednesday that it would respond in kind to the White House’s latest action.
The reaction in Congress was somewhat muted however, with few lawmakers making statements. The Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade issues, responded by retweeting a press release from last month criticizing the tariffs.
