Wyden Urges Congress to Reassert Trade Authority Amid Trump's Global Tariffs Crashing the Economy
As Prepared for Delivery
Watch a video of Wyden deliver his remarks here
As is becoming routine under this president, Americans were greeted with grim economic news this morning. After three years of strong growth and rising jobs numbers, the U.S. economy actually shrank in the first three months of 2025. The trade deficit hit a record $162 billion. The U.S. added only half as many jobs this month as expected.
A major culprit is, of course, Donald Trump and his senseless global tariffs. If this continues to be our tariff policy, every major economist and forecaster is predicting recession, job losses and the misery that was on our news feeds this morning.
The United States Senate is not an idle spector in the tariff madness. Congress has the power to set tariffs and regulate global trade, and members can vote TODAY to put an end to Trump's global tariffs and the economic disaster they are creating.
Earlier this month, Donald Trump slapped new, 10 percent taxes on everything Americans buy from overseas, 125 percent tariffs on everything from China, and he promises even higher taxes in July on products from nearly 5 dozen countries. That’s just the latest plan. Goldfish have memories that last longer than Donald Trump’s tariff promises. Before these global tariffs, there was the on-again off-again trade war with Canada and Mexico, tariffs on steel, aluminum and cars, and ad hoc exemptions for things like electronics and fertilizer when public outcry forced Trump to backtrack.
Trump imposed his global tariffs by declaring an economic emergency under a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. No president has ever imposed tariffs under this law. In my view, Trump’s actions clearly go beyond what the law allows, which is why Senators Shaheen, Kaine, and I have a bill to make it clear IEEPA does not allow the president to issue tariffs.
Members can vote today to repeal the so-called emergency Trump declared and end the harmful global tariffs.
Today, I’m going to take stock of the economic carnage Donald Trump’s trade chaos has inflicted upon our country, examine this administration’s own claims about what the plan here is, and make the case for why every member of this body should vote to assert Congress’s power to trade and end these tariffs, no matter their party or which state they represent.
I already mentioned the shocking economic news this morning. By every single forecast, by every measure, Trump’s self-defeating tariffs are actively making Americans poorer, both now and for years to come.
Economic growth? Gone. Inflation? Rising. Unemployment projections? Up again.
Experts estimate Trump’s tariffs will raise costs for average families by about $4,000 a year.
Many products from China won’t even be available soon, thanks to the tariffs. For the products that are still available, prices are going up, a fact that Trump is desperate to hide. When Amazon was rumored to list the impact of tariffs on prices, Trump threw a fit, reportedly threatening Jeff Bezos and calling it a hostile act. God forbid Americans know the real cost of tariffs.
Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans are charging ahead with their plans to pass a massive bailout for billionaires. Paid for by kicking millions of people off their health insurance and gutting programs that kids and families rely on to stay safe and healthy. Trump is putting higher taxes on groceries, clothes and cars for working families, and trying to pass tax CUTS for the wealthy. That’s Donald Trump’s agenda.
My state knows how Trump’s tariff chaos is already hurting real people and drying up markets for red-white-and-blue products. About one in five jobs in Oregon depends on trade, and the trade jobs often pay better. Speaking with small businesses and workers all over Oregon last week, every single one warned of damage from tariffs in the near future.
Bob’s Red Mill sells delicious flour and grains, mostly made from wheat and other crops grown in Oregon. But some of their ingredients - things like coconut or tapioca, which just aren’t grown here - come from outside the country. The cost of those products is going up because of tariffs. Worse, foreign markets for Bob’s goods are drying up, as other countries put their own tariffs on Bob’s flour and other Oregon ag products in retaliation for Trump’s aimless trade war. Oregon grass seed growers estimate that about HALF of their exports - nearly $200 million in sales - are being cancelled thanks to the global tariffs.
Donald Trump and his advisors claim there’s no need to worry, that economists and pundits are overreacting and everything is going according to plan. Secretary Bessent is on cable news so often trying to calm investors that it’s a wonder he has time to do any trade negotiating. But as usual, it’s not clear at all what the plan is, what these tariffs are supposed to accomplish, or when, if ever, American families and workers will see relief.
Earlier this month Donald Trump claimed he would have 200 deals completed within three or four weeks. Then he said it is “physically impossible” to have all of the meetings needed to seal those deals.
He should have thought of that BEFORE starting a trade war against the entire world.
Donald Trump claimed that he was already negotiating with China to lower tariffs and calm trade tensions. But China and Secretary Bessent said talks had not even started. This weekend the Agriculture Secretary said 100 countries had reached out to start trade talks. At almost the same time, Secretary Bessent said there are actually 18 so-called “priority countries”, and those talks would take about 90 days. If no one in this administration can even agree on what is happening right now, how can they negotiate trade deals with nearly every nation on earth?
Anonymous White House aides continue to say that Trump is working to de-escalate his trade war. But Trump himself doesn’t sound like he’s willing to admit he got it wrong. He told Time magazine that if tariffs are at 20 percent or even 50 percent a year from now, that would be, quote “total victory,” unquote. So, once again, no one can tell what this administration wants, or what the endgame will be.
It’s hard to see how any foreign country would make concessions to Donald Trump, when he has proven himself to be both untrustworthy and incapable of sticking to a position on tariffs for more than a few weeks at a time. One foreign diplomat told the Washington Post that countries are worried that any deal they make with the Treasury or Commerce secretaries will be contradicted by Trump. Other trading partners said they don’t want to make a deal now only to have Trump decide on new unilateral tariffs in the future.
Trump has trashed America’s credibility. He has not just made it unlikely for HIS administration to get a good deal for American workers, he has hurt every future president who wants to strike trade deals.
The best way to restore our nation’s good name is for Congress to step in and assert its constitutional authority over trade. Article One, Section 8, of the Constitution grants Congress power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations,” and to “lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises”. In other words, this is OUR job. It’s not always pretty, but Congress can provide stability and certainty on trade that lasts beyond a single president’s administration.
This body has already signaled bipartisan support for reversing pointless tariffs. Earlier this month, the Senate passed Senator Kaine’s bill to end the tariffs on Canada.
Today the Senate can take another powerful step today by voting to repeal the global tariffs on a bipartisan basis. Members can listen to our constituents and end the tariff chaos. I urge this body to vote for jobs and prosperity, rather than unending trade conflict that leaves Americans as the losers.
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