Press Releases

 Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), who serves on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, today issued the following statement on President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to impose a 25% tariff on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico:

“President-elect Trump just announced that his first act after being sworn into office will be to raise prices for the American people. Despite his campaign promises and statements to the contrary, Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on imported goods are taxes that American consumers will have to pay, on everything from fresh produce to automobiles that are assembled in the U.S. that have Canadian or Mexican components.”

“No one wins a trade war. If imposed, these tariffs will lead to retaliation by both Canada and Mexico, two of our biggest trade partners, which would throw our deeply integrated economies into chaos and potentially lead us into a recession.”

“The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was enacted to allow the president to respond to pressing national security or economic threats by imposing financial sanctions on hostile foreign powers. It was not intended to allow a president to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on our closest allies at will, as President-elect Trump threatened to do yesterday.”

“No president should have the power to raise taxes on the American people without the consent of Congress. The Prevent Tariff Abuse Act I introduced with Rep. Suzan DelBene last week would clarify that IEEPA does not allow the president to impose tariffs on imported goods.”