Demand Congress Stop Trump’s Tariffs and Reclaim Trade Authority

Updates

April 9, 2025: After days of economic turmoil, Trump changed his mind at the last minute and granted a 90-day reprieve on his massive tariff hikes. Instead, a 10% tariff has been placed on most countries, including Canada and Mexico, and a hefty 125% tariff is now in effect on Chinese imports.

On April 2nd, Trump announced the imposition of aggressive tariffs on imported goods from nearly every country—notably excluding Russia but not an island of penguins—upending the global trade market and sowing cross-industry chaos. Trump claims these tariffs will punish other countries for unfair trade practices and strengthen domestic manufacturing. However, economists note these tariffs are based on nonsensical calculations and unlikely to accomplish anything other than economic disaster. Wall Street has suffered its worst performance since the pandemic, fears of a recession continue to grow, and businesses are expected to raise prices to offset the new import taxes they must now pay.

While Congress has the constitutional authority to levy tariffs, the president has limited power to impose tariffs for national emergencies. However, Trump has abused his emergency powers to force these tariffs in yet another power grab that bypasses Congress. Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress are alarmed about tariffs’ impact on jobs and prices. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) have introduced bipartisan legislation, the Trade Review Act of 2025, to rein in Trump’s plan and reclaim Congress’s authority over US trade policy.

No president should have the power to single-handedly disrupt both the national and global economy. Demand your representatives pass immediate, veto-proof legislation to stop this destructive overreach.