Pascrell Introduces Resolution That Would Demand Administration Info on Tariff Decision Making

The top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Trade is trying to force the administration to disclose information about its decision-making process on tariffs. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., would have to get the House Speaker to bring the resolution up for a vote, in addition to securing a majority vote. The resolution asks for documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations that explain why the president chose a global 25 percent tariff on steel after the Commerce Department gave a global 24 percent tariff as one option, and why he made the aluminum tariff 10 percent, rather than 7.7 percent, as laid out by Commerce. It also asks for information on how the administration intends to help exporters hurt in the trade war, and its strategy on resolving the problems laid out in the Section 301 report, either through multilateral action or through negotiations with China.