Ways and Means Committee Discussing AGOA Plans; Steube Pushing for Tariff Hikes in Law

"The White House is not a fan of AGOA, but I think they're trying to work with the White House to find a place where both sides can land. So I think you could possibly see that," he said in a hallway interview at the Capitol.

In July, President Donald Trump didn't say he supported an AGOA renewal when asked by a reporter during a visit of African heads of state (see 2507090054), asking U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to field the question. Greer said that although AGOA has existed for 25 years, "the end result of that is we see a lot of other countries operating in Africa, we still see a lot of tariffs and non-tariff barriers in Africa. So any discussion of that act would also have to think about how we address those kinds of barriers."

A spokesperson from Adrian Smith's office didn't respond to questions on AGOA.

Steube said that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., strongly wants AGOA to continue.

A spokesperson from Jason Smith's office said the chairman "is continuing to work with the White House to address trade priorities, but there’s recognition that a trade-focused 'package' seems unlikely given the calendar -- it’s more likely we see trade priorities placed alongside other policies."

On Sept. 3, the American Apparel and Footwear Association called on Congress to immediately renew AGOA and Haitian trade preference programs that also expire Sept. 30. "These programs safeguard and support our 3.6 million American workers while sustaining jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti and opening markets to U.S. cotton and textile exports," said AAFA's vice president of trade and customs policy, Beth Hughes, in a press release. "These are bipartisan priorities. Renewing these programs is an urgent, cost-effective, and bipartisan solution."

Steube said there may be a package of trade measures, though he did not specify if the Haitian programs would be among them. He said if there is, he will ask for his own bill to be included. He said he has talked to Adrian Smith before about his proposal, but didn't this week.

Steube and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, are co-sponsoring a bill that would impose a 10% tariff on all goods other than those of Chinese origin, though it allows the president -- in consultation with trade committees in Congress -- to reduce the tariff in any sector that they believe is in the national interest. That reduction cannot go to zero, however. That would be in addition to any other duties.

For Chinese goods, the minimum duty would be 35%, goods with Column 2 rates above 35% would have Column 2 applied, and goods, at the time of enactment, that are subject to Section 301 or Section 232 tariffs or are on the List of Critical Supply Chains pursuant to Executive Order 14017 would be tariffed at 100%. However, the bill does allow for tariff rate quotas for goods when China is the sole supplier, and phases in the increases over five years.

Steube said he hopes his bill passes, because "I think we need to come behind the president and support what he's doing. I think Congress needs to do it. So I hope that we can move forward. It's our job to do this. I mean, I commend the president for what he's doing to put America first. I mean, look at the numbers as it relates to the debt and the deficit that we're getting. We're, like, on track to get $4 trillion in tariff income to the country in 10 years, which would offset everything with the tax package that we just passed. So it's a great thing for our country. I think it's time that we focus on American businesses and American workers. So I hope that the committee will take it up."

When asked if the bill would change to match the reciprocal tariff rates the president has imposed, or stick with a universal 10% outside China, he said it could be somewhere in between.

"I mean, we're obviously going to see what the [Supreme] Court's going to do, and then obviously, we'll see what the White House keeps doing."