(Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) joined Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Thursday to introduce bipartisan legislation that would give Congress more oversight into the imposition of tariffs.
A day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs that have spooked investors and threatened to upend global trade, Grassley and Cantwell are calling to rein in the executive branch on its authority to unilaterally impose tariffs.
The bill is actually an amendment of a section of the Trade Act of 1974, which gives the legislative branch a say in trade policy.
The so-called Trade Review Act of 2025 calls on the White House to quickly notify lawmakers in writing of new tariffs and to explain the rationale behind them.
If passed, the bill would also require the president to offer an in-depth analysis of “the potential impact of imposing or increasing the duty on United States businesses and consumers.”
Lawmakers would have 60 days to review proposals by the president. In his analysis of the bipartisan bill, Poliico’s Ben Leonard wrote:
It’s highly unlikely this proposal will ever become law. Still, support from Grassley — who chairs the Judiciary Committee, sits on the Finance Committee and is third in line for the presidency as the Senate’s president pro tempore — sends a strong signal about the GOP’s growing unease with Trump’s actions and the party’s willingness to say something about it.
The president moved the previous day to slap tariffs spanning between 10 percent and 50 percent on countries across the globe, following through on his promise to impose reciprocal tariffs on foreign trade partners and upending the global economic order in the process.
Stocks tumbled throughout the week and the Dow dropped more than 1,400 points to open the trading day Thursday after Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on US allies and adversaries alike a day earlier from the White House.
Despite fears his new trade policies could spark a recession and cause prices of basic goods to skyrocket, Trump celebrated the new tariffs before the markets opened Thursday morning.
“THE OPERATION IS OVER! THE PATIENT LIVED, AND IS HEALING,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “THE PROGNOSIS IS THAT THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
