Dear Representative:
On behalf of the 63 affiliates of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), representing 15 million working people across our economy, I write to express our concerns with HR 407, the “Prevent Tariffs Abuse Act.”
The AFL-CIO strongly supports robust enforcement of our trade laws to level the playing field for domestic producers and American workers. Our anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) laws are critical to leveling the playing field for American workers and addressing the harm caused by illegal subsidies, dumping, and other unfair trade practices. However, mounting AD/CVD cases is costly, time consuming, and requires domestic industries to prove they have already suffered harm before relief takes effect. Too often, relief comes far too late leading to layoffs and the loss of critical domestic manufacturing capacity.
While we share some of the concerns raised by members of Congress about the Trump Administration’s erratic use of tariff threats not tied to addressing workers' core economic priorities, the “Prevent Tariff Abuse Act” is not the solution. This legislation would permanently remove the ability of this, or any future, administration to use International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to levy tariffs or duties in response to an economic emergency. Given the limitations of our trade remedy laws, Congress should not take the drastic step of permanently eliminating the ability of IEEPA to provide swift protection from unfair trade practices to our domestic industries and workers.
We look forward to working with Congress to enact trade policies that support good, union jobs, grow our economy and boost the resiliency of supply chains that keeps Americans safe.
Sincerely,
Jody Calemine
Director, Government Affairs