3/5/2018

GOP/LOBBYING/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Congressional Republicans are frantically lobbying President Donald Trump to reconsider his move to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum — even considering legislative action to try to stop him if he refuses.
Speaker Paul Ryan has personally spoken with the president and tried to warn him of the economic dangers of entering a trade war as well as the political backlash that could crush Republicans in the mid-terms elections. Republicans fear that voters could pay the price in the form of higher prices, completely undercutting their central campaign message of an improving economy… One of the top authors of the tax package, Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), has also waded in to try to talk Trump down. Brady and trade subcommittee chairman Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) have drafted a letter to Trump expressing worry about ‘the prospect of broad, global tariffs on aluminum and steel imports,’ said Lauren Aronson, a Ways and Means spokeswoman… The move comes as the White House prepares to slap a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum as soon as this week. A Saturday [3-4-18] tweet by Trump suggested that he might even go beyond that and impose tariffs on European cars.”

-Rachel Bade and Doug Palmer, “Republicans blitz Trump to head off tariffs,” Politico, Mar. 5, 2018 12:32pm