WASHINGTON — Bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to give Congress more control in crafting trade policy and tariff policy and as a way to reshore manufacturing to the U.S.
The Secure Trade Act, introduced on Friday by U.S. Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Greg Steube, R-Fla., incentivizes American-produced domestic goods and codifies the 10% tariff baseline on all imported goods that was put in place by President Trump through an executive order in April.
“It’s long past time that Congress got some skin in the game in setting our nation’s trade and tariff policies,” Golden said in a press release.
“The free trade status quo has cost Americans jobs and left us reliant on other nations for strategic goods critical for our nation’s safety and prosperity. The Secure Trade Act … increases our economic security and makes clear that U.S. trade policy will be used to advance our interests, not those of our competitors.”
Steube added that the bill “holds serial trade manipulators like China accountable, reduces the offshoring of manufacturing jobs and secures America’s long-term economic and national security for generations to come.”
In addition to codifying into law a 10% tariff baseline on all imports, the bill creates a separate category of tariffs for China, including a 35% tariff on “nonstrategic” goods and a 100% tariff on “strategic” goods, phased in over five years.
“Strategic goods include items such as jet engine parts, microdrones used for agricultural and military purposes, and freeze dryers used to preserve sensitive medications,” according to a press release. “The act would allow the president to modify these rates by certifying to Congress that a modification is in the national interest.”
The lawmakers said the bill would require Chinese imports to be appraised based on their U.S. value, thereby supporting a gradual reduction in reliance on China for strategic goods.
Golden’s office asserted that the U.S. trade deficit with China now stands at $295 billion, which has caused the loss or displacement of more than 12,000 jobs in Maine between 2001 and 2018.
The legislation also gives the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment the power to block foreign investments from entities connected to “countries of concern” – which includes China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran – in both new and existing facilities or businesses.
“This provision could be used to block foreign investments such as those that have led to the establishment of illegal cannabis grow houses in Maine,” according to Golden’s office.
Earlier this month the Trump administration began enforcing new reciprocal tariffs on goods from more than 90 U.S. trade partners, including 50% for goods from Brazil, 39% for Switzerland, 35% for Canada, 30% for China and Mexico, 25% for India, 20% for Vietnam and Taiwan, 19% for Thailand, 15% for Germany and Japan, and 10% for the United Kingdom.
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