House Dems Seek to End Brazil Emergency
Five House Democrats, including Rep. Gregory Meeks, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a resolution to terminate the emergency that allowed President Donald Trump to hike tariffs on some Brazilian goods from 10% plus most-favored nation tariffs to 50% plus MFN.
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Meeks, of New York, and Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (California), Joaquin Castro (Texas), Greg Stanton (Arizona) and Dina Titus (Nevada) introduced the resolution. However, even though the International Emergency Economic Powers Act gives Congress the ability to terminate emergencies, and votes are required to be held if requested, House leadership has changed the rules of the House to block previous votes to end emergencies underpinning tariff actions.
“Donald Trump’s massive 50% tariffs on Brazil are a textbook example of his reckless, politically motivated trade war. These tariffs have nothing to do with U.S. national security and everything to do with protecting Jair Bolsonaro, who is now facing prosecution for his role in a failed coup attempt in 2022,” the group said. “As a result, American families are paying more at the grocery store, American workers are at risk of losing tens of thousands of jobs, and relations with Brazil -- one of our closest partners in the hemisphere -- are in tatters. These tariffs are not only unjustified, they are self defeating.”