News Coverage
Tariffs Prompt Trouble in Congress for Trump Trade Agenda
Friday March 22, 2019
Article Highlights
- Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist and senior director of industry insights for Cox Automotive, said lawmakers who are pushing back on the idea of tariffs on imported autos are likely reacting to pressure they are feeling from car dealership owners in their districts.
- "It's thousands of dollars per vehicle and there's really no way to avoid paying them," he said.
- Chesbrough said automakers have responded to the threat of import tariffs with recent announcements about domestic production increase, which is Trump's desired effect.
The Detroit News, March 22, 2019 — Republicans in Congress are increasingly willing to speak up in opposition to President Donald Trump’s proposal to place tariffs as high as 25 percent on imported autos as soon as May. And that could spell trouble for the president’s trade agenda in Congress.
Trump has possession of a report from the U.S. Commerce Department that contains recommendations about whether he should impose tariffs on imported autos under a section of law that allows him to do so if a national security threat is determined to exist.
The White House has not released the findings of the report, but U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, introduced bipartisan legislation with U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., to block the president from unilaterally imposing tariffs on imported cars. Republican senators like Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, have also spoken out against Trump’s proposal.