The battle to become the new face of Republicans in the Senate comes to a head this week, with three contenders all positioning themselves as the most acceptable choice for their colleagues and newly elected President Donald Trump.
There is one issue that no one wants to think about during the final stretch: the rates.
That’s because all three men — Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida — have spoken measuredly in the past about Trump’s unilateral power to impose tariffs, as well as whether they think tariffs are even a good idea. idea.
Whoever wins will have to confront the issue in coming months as the next Senate majority leader, replacing Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell.
Trump has pledged to make tariffs a central part of his agenda for his second term and plans to impose possible 60% tariffs on China, along with 10% or higher tariffs on other US trade allies.
Donald Trump arrives at his election night party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on November 5. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Miami Herald via Getty Images)
And so does the now president-elect laid down a kind of marker during the campaign with the words: “I don’t need Congress, but they will approve it. I have the right to impose them myself if they do not do so.’
Just this weekend, Scott suggested he might differ, at least on the process.
The U.S. senator from Florida said a tariff action would “most likely require 60” votes in the Senate to pass. “You have to get everyone together,” he says added in the Sunday interview on Fox.
Experts differ, but many say Trump could be largely right on the issue after recent decades in which lawmakers have ceded much of the tariff power from Capitol Hill to the Oval Office.
The president is now often allowed, after varying internal processes, to take unilateral action and keep lawmakers out of the loop if he so chooses.
Two candidates who have been wary of the rates themselves
Whether Scott, Thune or Cornyn will want to test the president’s unilateral tariff authority remains to be seen, but the latter two candidates have drawn criticism in the past.
In fact, then Axios this summer looked at the Republicans who broke with then-candidate Trump in this area Thune and Cornyn were the best examples.
Of particular concern are Trump’s oft-discussed “across the board” tariffs of 10% or higher on a wide range of goods, even from US allies.
“There are ways you can selectively use tariffs as a tool to achieve economic policy outcomes, but just uniform, across-the-board tariffs is not something I have been for in the past,” Thune told the newspaper, with Cornyn. adding that rates across the board could be potentially “problematic.”
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and John Thune, R-S.D.. (Photo by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (Tom Williams via Getty Images)
Thune, in particular, has long been critical of tariffs, largely because of their negative impact on his agriculture-dependent home state of South Dakota.
“They’re a big problem for American agriculture and they’re a big problem for South Dakota agriculture,” he says reportedly told a local television station in 2018, in the midst of Trump’s previous tariff efforts.
Cornyn has also been wary of Trump’s past efforts, to reporters in 2018 of Trump’s then-proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum: “I worry that once they start, they will be difficult to end… and there could also be unintended consequences.”
A more complicated point of view from Rick Scott
Senator Scott is the favorite of Trump’s most fervent allies (including Elon Musk) and never appears to have criticized Trump’s pricing plans.
But he himself ran for office in 2018, during the height of Trump’s latest trade war, and has clearly heard the concerns of the business community.
“I have heard directly from Florida businesses who are concerned that the administration’s tariff proposal is not fair and consistent across states and this is an issue I will continue to discuss with the administration,” he said. in a 2018 statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
Senator Rick Scott. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images)
And Scott made sure to underline this weekend what he saw a role for the Senate in that upcoming debate.
“You’re going to have to sit down with people and explain to them that workers in their state will be better off if we hold China accountable,” he said, calling for a full Senate overhaul in other areas to “ get Trump’s support.” agenda ready.”
Senate Republicans will meet this Wednesday and choose a new leader from three choices in a secret ballot.
As for Trump, the question between now and then is how deep he might delve into the race in the coming days.
Trump this weekend ventured into the race on whether the next leader would allow recess appointments for his appointments.
All three candidates quickly responded that they consider the confirmation of Trump’s nominees a top priority, including promises to look into the issue of recess appointments.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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