WSJ: A Roadmap for Presidential Trade Retaliation
Your editorial “The Real Tariff Liberation Day” (Review & Outlook, Feb. 21) celebrates the Supreme Court’s decision in Learning Resources v. Trump as a victory “for the law and the economy.”
Try telling that to the workers I represent in West Virginia’s Second District. For 40 years, these workers have lived through a trade war, watching factories close, jobs disappear and communities hollow out. For them, President Trump’s tariffs marked the end of America’s economic surrender and offered hope that someone in Washington finally cared about bringing honest, blue-collar jobs back to the heartland.
The editorial board insists that Congress should speak in more explicit terms. But we should also acknowledge the policy choices that prioritized multinational corporations over American labor, and promoted foreign production over domestic strength. These are the policies that led to the current crisis.
Thankfully, President Trump retains numerous options to address the situation and protect American workers. But in light of the Supreme Court’s decision, Congress should work to further expand his toolkit. My bill, the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act, would provide a clear framework for the president to retaliate against foreign countries that impose high tariffs on our goods or maintain significant non-tariff barriers to entry to their market.
Our constituents, in communities that have been decimated by four decades of unfair trade practices, deserve nothing less.
Rep. Riley M. Moore (R., W.Va.)
Washington