To avoid 31% EU tariff that hit Friday
From The Hill
Harley-Davidson’s (NYSE: HOG) announcement that it is moving some production overseas to avoid European tariffs coupled with triple-digit drops on Wall Street are raising pressure on lawmakers to do something about President Trump’s trade war.
The European Union began imposing new tariffs on American goods on Friday, targeting Wisconsin-based Harley-Davidson with a 31 percent tariff.
To escape those tariffs, the iconic U.S. company said it would shift some production to Europe.
A spokeswoman for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said it’s “further proof of the harm from unilateral tariffs.”
“The best way to help American workers, consumers and manufacturers is to open new markets for them, not to raise barriers to our own market,” said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong.
Trump responded to the news later on Monday, criticizing Harley-Davidson for moving production.
“Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag,” Trump tweeted. “I fought hard for them and ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the E.U., which has hurt us badly on trade, down $151 Billion. Taxes just a Harley excuse — be patient! #MAGA.”
Markets plunged Monday as Wall Street feared a growing fight. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 328 points for the day.
Senate Republicans, who have been repeatedly frustrated by Trump’s saber-rattling on trade but have been unwilling to confront him on the issue, are talking about a new effort to rein in Trump’s powers.
Key Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are voicing support for legislation yet to be drafted that would narrow Trump’s ability to invoke national security concerns as authority to impose new tariffs, according to sources familiar with the internal discussions.
A similar effort led by Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) failed earlier this month, but this time GOP lawmakers are taking a more measured approach, the sources said.
While Corker’s bill would have taken away Trump’s authority to impose tariffs on imports based on national security and given it to Congress, the new proposal would just limit the president’s authority under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act without giving new powers to Congress.
It’s not clear exactly how Congress would seek to limit the authority.
One possibility, according to Vanessa Sciarra, vice president of legal affairs and trade policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, would be for Congress to define the interests of national security more narrowly.
She said the definition of national security in the Trade Expansion Act is “broad enough to drive a truck through” because it was drafted at the height of the Cold War, when Congress wanted to give the president broad discretion.
“You could narrow the definition to say just military preparedness,” she said, which could make it harder for a president to use.
