Free-Trade Group Urges Congress to ‘Exercise Its Oversight Role’ on Tariffs

Continued economic "prosperity" is no "foregone conclusion” amid the broadly held concern about the impact to the U.S. economy of the tariffs on Chinese imports on steel and aluminum imports and “corresponding retaliation against U.S. exports," said Americans for Free Trade in a “welcome” letter Wednesday to newly elected and returning members of Congress. “We agree that China must be held to account for its violations of our trade laws and the international trade obligations all nations share,” said the coalition, whose 150 members include CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council and other tech groups. “Imposition of a tariff of up to 25 percent on $250 billion worth of China products -- and the threat to impose a similar duty on $267 billion more of such products -- will not remedy the situation. We continue to see stories on a daily basis about companies, both large and small, who are being harmed.” The coalition urged Congress to “exercise its oversight role on trade policy matters to prevent further harm ... from both the existing and proposed tariffs.”