In a letter, the Democrat legislators said that “threatening our closest allies undermines America’s global leadership and disrupts progress.”
A group of Democrat lawmakers asked US President Donald Trump to retract the tariffs he has threatened on Mexico and Canada, claiming that they will “increase costs” for US families.
In a letter dated February 6, but released this week, 19 lawmakers from the House Ways and Means Committee urged Trump not to impose the 25% tariffs that the president announced a few weeks ago but suspended until March 4, pending the measures taken by Mexico and Canada to stop the flow of migrants and drugs to the United States.
The legislators called Trump’s actions “a blatant executive overreach” and an abuse of his powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
They said Trump’s use of “tariffs as a bargaining chip to resolve non-trade issues is counterproductive to the goal of revitalizing manufacturing and bringing back American jobs. The well-being of American workers, families, and businesses should never be compromised to score political points.”
These politicians warned that “widespread tariffs against Canada and Mexico will increase costs for American families on everything from groceries to household staples. These tariffs will also threaten the stability of critical American industries and jobs – from factory workers, farmers, and small businesses – that rely on interconnected supply chains with Canada and Mexico.”
They stressed that the proposed tariffs would cost “the average American household more than $1,200 a year” and would limit “economic growth.”
The congressmen complained that Trump is trying to impose “higher tariffs on American partners who are actively working with us to address the fentanyl crisis than on China.”
They pointed out that “threatening our closest allies undermines America’s global leadership and disrupts the progress the United States has made to secure supply chains after the pandemic.”
They stressed that in the case of unfair trade practices, there are functional mechanisms, such as the Rapid Response Mechanism included in the USMCA. “However, by threatening indiscriminate tariffs, you have undermined confidence in our ability to fulfill our promises in trade agreements, alienated our allies, and affected business and investor confidence in the stability of our economy.” In addition, they said, Trump has failed to demonstrate “how these tariffs will create well-paid, unionized, and beneficial jobs for American workers.”
The letter is signed by representatives Stacey Plaskett, Jimmy Panetta, Linda Sanchez, Suzan DelBene, Judy Chu, Lloyd Doggett, Jimmy Gomez, Brendan Boyle, Don Beyer, Mike Thompson, Dwight Evans, Brad Schneider, Terri Sewell, Steven Horsford, John Larson, Danny K. Davis, Tom Suozzi, Gwen Moore and Richard Neal.
Source: El Universal
