Schumer vows to 'block any attempt to extend' new Trump tariffs
Published in Political News
WASHINGTON — Following the Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down many of President Donald Trump’s worldwide tariffs, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer has made a vow: His conference will “block” attempts to extend those new tariffs past their expiration date this summer.
Friday’s 6-3 ruling found that Trump overstepped the emergency authority Congress gave to presidents in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, or IEEPA, wiping out many of the sweeping tariffs imposed by the administration on global trading partners since last year.
On Saturday, Trump announced he was increasing a 10% replacement import fee to 15%, using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That authority expires 150 days after implementation — specifically on July 24. After that, it would be up to Congress to extend them.
That would require some Democratic support in a 53-47 Republican-led chamber with a 60-vote threshold for most legislation.
“Senate Democrats will continue to fight back against Trump’s tariff tax, and will block any attempt to extend these harmful tariffs when they expire this summer,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday in a statement.
“The new tariff regime that Trump put in must expire in a few months, and needs Congress’s approval. I am here to tell Donald Trump and the American people, we will not extend those tariffs, and they will expire in a few months,” Schumer said later from the Senate floor.
Trump called the court’s decision “deeply disappointing” and has signaled he has no intention of refunding any of the collected monies, setting the stage for court fights over potential refunds of more than $130 billion in tariffs paid to the federal government.
On Monday, a group of Senate Democrats unveiled legislation that would require full refunds of the struck-down tariffs. The co-sponsors of the bill say that number could be as high as $175 billion in tariff revenue.
The Trump administration may face some GOP angst in the Senate on the issue. The tariffs have been a rare place of some vocal GOP discomfort, leading some Republican lawmakers to even celebrate the court’s decision. Former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Friday that “the Supreme Court reaffirmed authority that has rested with Congress for centuries.”
Schumer urged Republicans to join Democrats in not allowing Trump to raise new tariffs. In October, the Senate passed a trio of measures aimed at repealing Trump’s now-invalidated global tariffs. None of the three has advanced in the House because of resistance from House Republican leadership.
The House, earlier this month, narrowly passed a measure that would overturn Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Monday he thinks it’ll be “a challenge to find consensus on any path forward on the tariffs, on the legislative side.”
“That is why, I think, you see so much of the attention on the executive side, the executive branch, and what they’re doing and how they’re reacting to the ruling.”
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(John T. Bennett and Michael Macagnone contributed to this report.)
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