CONGRESS/LEGISLATION/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A new bill circulating in Congress would give President Donald Trump broad authority to raise tariffs unilaterally on specific products if he determined foreign countries were employing higher import barriers than the United States, according to a draft copy of the legislation obtained by POLITICO. The draft legislation, called the United States Reciprocal Trade Act, lays out the argument that the president ‘should have a wide array of tools to open the markets of United States trading partners … including the authority to adjust tariff rates to reciprocal levels.’ If passed, it would allow Trump either to impose higher duties on specific goods where he felt U.S. exports were being treated unfairly, or to negotiate an agreement with another country to reduce duties or non-tariff barriers on those items. The measure could intensify an existing debate on Capitol Hill surrounding legislative attempts to restrict the president’s ability to impose tariffs for national security reasons.”
–Megan Cassella, “Draft trade bill would give Trump expansive powers to raise tariffs,” Politico, January 11, 2019 2:30 pm