
Wyden Urges Congress to Reassert Trade Authority
Oregon’s Ron Wyden went to the Senate floor Wednesday, asking lawmakers to affirm trade authority amid the crashing of global economies. In Wednesday’s remarks, Wyden said after three years of strong growth and rising jobs numbers, the U.S. economy shrank in the first quarter of 2025.
“The trade deficit hit a record $162 billion. The U.S. added only half as many jobs this month as expected. A major culprit is, of course, Donald Trump and his senseless global tariffs," Wyden said. "If this continues to be our tariff policy, every major economist and forecaster is predicting recession, job losses and the misery that was on our news feeds this morning.”
Wyden added the Senate cannot sit idle in the middle of this “tariff madness”. On the floor, Wyden slammed the President’s 10% tariffs on a host of counties, as well as 125% tariffs on China. And Wyden added higher tariffs are coming from the Administration this summer.
“Trump imposed his global tariffs by declaring an economic emergency under a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. No president has ever imposed tariffs under this law. In my view, Trump’s actions clearly go beyond what the law allows, which is why Senators Shaheen, Kaine, and I have a bill to make it clear IEEPA does not allow the president to issue tariffs.”
Wyden says the tariffs will raise costs for average families by about $4,000 a year. Despite Wyden's pleas, the senate rejected his proposal that would have reduced the President's ability to administer tariffs.
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