Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the U.S. Supreme Court has provided some clarity on the extent of the president’s power to impose tariffs.
“I have said repeatedly congress needs to reassert its role (to) regulate interstate and foreign commerce,” Grassley said.
Today’s decision was silent on whether refunds must be issued, however, and there are likely to be separate rulings on that issue. Grassley calls Trump “a very skilled negotiator” and he’s urging Trump to continue making trade deals. “And while the president’s doing that, to work with congress to secure long term enforcement measures to provide broad market opportunities for farmers and businesses,” Grassley said.
After Grassley spoke with reporters on his weekly conference call, Trump announced he would impose a temporary 10% worldwide tariff under a law that’s different from the one addressed in the Supreme Court ruling. Ryan Marquardt, who raises cattle in Madison County, spoke during an online news conference organized by the Iowa Democratic Party. “It’s kind of his thing it tariffs and it’s kind of the only thing he’s tried to run on,” Marquardt said shortly after Trump’s announcement, “and it hasn’t done much for us at all.”
Berleen Wobeter and her husband raise corn, soybeans and cattle in Tama County. “Tariffs are a tool, so they can be used sometimes,” Wobeter said during the online news conference. “A trade deficit is not necessarily a huge problem and he just has his own take on all this.”
Senator Grassley was a member of the U.S. House in 1977 when congress passed the law on tariffs Trump had been using, but Trump’s new round of tariffs are based on a law passed three years earlier. Last April, Grassley proposed a new law that would see any new tariffs imposed by a president expire if congress didn’t approve of the tariffs within 60 days. “And remember, congress always has to work with the president to get things done,” Grassley said. “I look forward to a cooperative working relationship with the president as we move forward.”
Zach Wahls and Josh Turek — the two Iowa Democrats running for the U.S. Senate — say Trump’s tariffs have caused chaos for Iowa farmers, businesses and consumers and Congresswoman Ashley Hinson has failed to push back against Trump’s actions. Hinson is the leading Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Rob Sand, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, pointed to a recent report from the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee that found the average Iowa family has paid $1300 in higher costs due to tariffs.
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican from Ottumwa, issued a written statement late Friday, saying the U.S. has run record trade deficits for years while foreign countries engaged in unfair trade practices and congress “must work in a bipartisan manner to help shape U.S. trade policy.”
