Rep. Brady Says 2022 Could Be Good Year for Section 232 Reform
Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that while what he called the "food fight between Democrats" is preventing legislation from moving this year, "this next year would be an opportune time to have a conversation about [Section 232 reform] in a bipartisan way." Brady, who was responding to a question during a call with reporters Oct. 6, said he'd like to be a part of that conversation about the use of national security tariffs and Congress's role in setting tariffs.
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A proposal that would both prevent future Section 232 tariffs from taking effect without congressional approval and allow Congress to rescind the 25% tariff on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum was introduced in the Senate Oct. 5 (see 2110050040). It has support from the Senate Finance Committee's top Republican, as well as six other committee Republicans, and two committee Democrats. If most of the other seven Republicans on the committee voted for the bill, it would have enough votes to get out of committee. Still, Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has not taken a position on the issue, and his press office did not respond to a request for comment.
A companion bill has not yet been introduced in the House, but the one introduced during the last Congress drew many centrist Democrats and had 32 co-sponsors in all. Brady was not among them, but said he would look at the bill when it is introduced. "Certainly President Trump was very aggressive about the use of tariffs to drive negotiating partners to the table," he said.
The tariffs on the European Union and British steel and aluminum resulted in retaliatory tariffs on American products, including liquor and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
During the call, Brady again complained that the Biden administration is not interested in negotiating free trade agreements, and obliquely suggested it would be wise to go back to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He said he has a huge amount of confidence in U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who used to work as the chief trade lawyer for Democrats on the committee, but complained that the administration has no "kind of aggressive strategic approach to [China]. It seems to me that the White House is nibbling around the margins, while China is eating our lunch."
Brady also questioned whether the Treasury Department's negotiations at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development would put an end to digital services taxes, and even if they did, if the administration would allow foreign countries to tax U.S. multinationals' activity too much.
"It’s frustrating they’re not consulting with Congress at all," he said. "I think that will cause problems for them when they bring these agreements back to Congress for approval, which they must."