U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorses Sen. Cantwell’s bipartisan tariff reform bill

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organization, has officially endorsed Democratic Washington U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell’s bipartisan legislation that would set rules a president must follow to enact tariffs.

Cantwell originally introduced the legislation in April, co-sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025 is modeled after the War Powers Act.

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (‘the Chamber’) urges Congress to pass legislation to reclaim its constitutional role setting tariffs, including the Trade Review Act,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote in an open letter to the U.S. Senate. “Doing so would restore appropriate procedural deliberation in the enactment of taxes on trade, benefitting the millions of Americans whose livelihoods depend on international commerce and the certainty that supports investments in our economy.”

Under the proposal, the president would be required to explain why a tariff is needed and its potential impact on the economy. After 60 days, the tariff would expire unless Congress passed a joint resolution approving it.

“Trade wars devastate American working families, small businesses, and manufacturers,” Cantwell said back in April. “Article One, Section Eight of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress—the explicit authority to impose duties and regulate commerce, given the far-reaching impact to our national economy.”

Cantwell’s bill has since picked up 12 additional co-sponsors – an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats – and been endorsed by several other major U.S. business organizations, including the National Retail Federation.

“The Chamber has long supported legislative proposals to reassert congressional prerogatives on trade as a means to securing durable outcomes,” the letter continued. “The Constitution grants exclusive authority to Congress ‘to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises … [and] to regulate commerce with foreign nations,’ and exercising leadership on this front should be a priority in the context of today’s challenging economic outlook.”

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, two out of every five jobs in Washington are tied to trade and trade-related industries.

Congress would take tariff power under bill

Congress would also have the authority to pass a joint resolution to end the tariff at any time.

“For too long, Congress has delegated its clear authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce to the executive branch,” Grassley said in a statement.

For decades, global commerce abided by tariff rates agreed to by the U.S. and 122 other countries during the 1980s and 1990s. On Wednesday, President Trump dismantled that arrangement, saying other countries had exploited the system and “ripped off” the United States for years, causing its once-mighty manufacturing base to shrink.

“Our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered,” Trump said in the Rose Garden in April. “Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years. But it is not going to happen anymore.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

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