Press Releases
DelBene, Panetta, Beyer, Schneider, Sewell Introduce Legislation to Reclaim Congressional Trade Powers
Washington, D.C.,
April 1, 2025
Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Don Beyer (VA-08), Brad Schneider (IL-10), and Terri Sewell (Al-07) introduced the Reclaim Trade Powers Act, legislation that would modernize outdated trade authorities and ensure that Congress retains final approval over the imposition of broad tariffs. This legislation would eliminate Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits the president to impose 15% tariffs on all imports in the event of a balance of payments crisis. Originally designed to address situations where a nation’s currency was tied to a commodity or a foreign currency, this provision is now obsolete, as the United States no longer operates under the gold standard. In recent years, the Trump administration misinterpreted the term “balance of payments issue” to justify tariffs based on trade imbalances rather than actual economic crises. This misuse highlights the need for Congress to reaffirm its authority over trade policy. This legislation was introduced in response to President Trump’s planned widespread tariffs on U.S. trading partners. By repealing Section 122, the Reclaim Trade Powers Act would:
“President Trump is trying to use outdated laws to argue that he can unilaterally impose huge tax increases on American consumers without congressional approval,” said DelBene. “This legislation is one of several that would reaffirm Congress’ constitutional role in trade policy and ensure the president alone cannot impose broad-based tariffs, which are taxes, on our trading partners.” “The balance of payments authority has been mischaracterized and misused to justify broad, indiscriminate tariffs that bypass Congressional oversight,” said Panetta. “The Reclaim Trade Powers Act would close that loophole and help establish a trade policy that reflects modern economic realities rather than outdated statutes. This legislation would protect our economy from unnecessary and harmful tariffs, ensure major trade decisions are not made solely by executive branch, and restore Congressional authority over trade.” “No one should be under any illusion that the Trump administration would require an actual balance in payments crisis to levy these across the board tariffs,” said Beyer. “Pretextual and dishonest justifications are this president’s stock-in-trade, which makes this executive authority simply too dangerous to leave on the books.” “It's long past time that Congress assert its constitutional responsibilities and put a check on President Trump's reckless, arbitrary, and punitive approach to trade policy, which is only hurting our consumers, companies, and economy,” said Schneider. “We must close outdated loopholes—like Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, among others—that Trump is using to impose sweeping tariffs while punishing our small businesses, retirement accounts, and economy.” “In a few short months, President Trump has abused multiple trade authorities as he initiates trade wars with our allies,” said Sewell. “Congress must act to draw back trade authorities from this administration in order to protect American consumers, farmers, and manufacturers from President Trump’s reckless trade agenda. I am proud to join my colleagues in this effort to strengthen our checks against this administration.” A copy of the bill can be found here. |