GOP/HOUSE OF REPS/PAUL RYAN/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday [7-12-18] that while he does not support President Donald Trump’s moves to impose tariffs on major U.S. trading partners’ goods, he questioned the wisdom of Congress taking legislative action to stop such sanctions…U.S. farmers and other businesses in states that strongly supported Trump’s election in 2016 have expressed concerns that their exports could be damaged by a trade war with China or European nations. That has prompted some in Congress, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, to push legislation to give Congress a stronger role in the president’s decisions to impose tariffs for national security reasons. Ryan’s remarks reflected the difficulty Corker and others could have in getting enough support in the Republican-controlled Congress to defy Trump by placing new constraints on his ability to levy trade tariffs. Even if such a bill did pass, Trump could veto it, setting up a standoff between warring factions in the Republican Party shortly before the November midterm elections that will determine whether Democrats take over either the House of Representatives or the Senate.”
–Richard Cowan, “House Speaker casts doubt on Congress acting to stop trade tariffs,” Reuters, July 12, 2018 9:29 am