Grassley Says Sections 232, 301/IEEPA Reform Bill Isn't Anti-Trump
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the lead Republican on a bill that would prevent future executive tariffs from lasting more than 60 days without an approval in Congress, said on a phone call with reporters that it was a deliberate choice not to have the bill roll back Section 232 tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, Section 301 tariffs on China, or tariffs on nearly all countries under the guise of national emergencies.
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Grassley said: "We didn't want this to be seen as an anti-Trump move; it's a move to recoup Congress's congressional authority" to levy tariffs.
He said he tried to shepherd Section 232 reform through the Senate Finance Committee when he led it during Trump's first term in office. "I didn’t do anything for the next four years, so it probably looks like I‘m irritated with Trump ... not at all."
Rather, he said, he wants to convince his colleagues that "Congress made a mistake in those trade bills [that contain Section 232 and Section 301], and we ought to correct it."
In response to a question from International Trade Today, Grassley said he didn't think the import of minivans from Canada is a national security threat.
When asked how he can get that policy to change, if not through legislation, he said he'd work on persuasion.
"What we’ll do is what I did with potash, tell the president that we can’t have a 25% tariff on potash and up the input costs for farmers, for crops."