On the Senate Floor, Dec. 20

[....] I’m no novice when it comes to understanding the delicate balance between congressional and executive authority over international trade.

In fact, I was a leader in renewing Trade Promotion Authority as the ranking member of the Finance Committee in 2002.

I strongly supported its renewal under the leadership of Chairman Orrin Hatch in 2015. 

What was important then and remains truer than ever today is that Congress plays a central and pivotal role in crafting trade policy.

Our Founding Fathers were explicit in placing this responsibility with the Congress in Article One of the Constitution.

We must remain vigilant to ensure that the aspects of trade authority that Congress has delegated are used appropriately and in the best interest of our country.

I am certainly not opposed to being creative in negotiations with other countries.

But I strongly disagree with the notion that imports of steel and aluminum, automobiles, and auto parts somehow could pose a national security threat. 

I intend to review the President’s use of power under Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962, which grants the president broad legal authority to impose tariffs in the name of national security.

Senator Portman and others have already introduced legislation to narrow the scope of how an administration can use the power that Congress authorized in 1962 under the influence of the Cold War [....]