House Democrats are trying to block President-elect Donald Trump from implementing his sweeping tax plans just days before he takes office.
A new bill led by Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Don Beyer, D-Va., and supported by 11 other Democrats, would prevent Trump from using the president’s emergency powers to impose higher import tariffs.
During his campaign, Trump promised to impose a 60% tariff on goods from China and 20% on other countries the US trades with.
TRUMP’S PROPOSED TARIFFS ON MEXICO, CANADA, CHINA WILL CAUSE INFLATION, GOLDMAN SACHS WARNS
Democratic Reps. Don Beyer, left, and Suzan DelBene are spearheading a bill to block President-elect Donald Trump’s sweeping tax plan. (Getty Images)
He recently pledged to Truth Social to create a “Foreign Income Service” to “collect our values, Jobs, and all Income from foreign sources.”
Trump and his allies have argued that the plan would boost American manufacturing while making it more difficult for adversaries like China to “play their way out of a bad economy,” as Treasury Secretary-designate Scott Besent told officials this week.
In theory, the commander-in-chief is able to override Congress to impose higher taxes by declaring a state of emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
However, Democrats say the cost of the tax will be passed on to American consumers.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised tough tariffs against China and other countries. (Bikash Dware/The Rising Nepal via AP)
“Americans say clearly and consistently that the high cost of living is one of their biggest concerns,” DelBene said in a statement. “Not only would higher tariffs raise costs at home and plunge our economy into recession, but they could lead to massive retaliation, hurting American workers, farmers and businesses.”
Beyer said, “Trump’s tax proposals would abuse emergency authorities to raise prices on the American people, which is unacceptable.”
However, not all Democrats rejected the plan.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, a moderate Democrat known for often breaking with his party, introduced his own bill this week to impose a 10% tax on all sales.
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Democratic Representative Jared Golden also proposed a global tax plan. (Getty Images)
The 10% rate will be reassessed each year, with room for a 5% increase or decrease depending on current US economic conditions.
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In a statement to the Maine Morning Star, “The global tax — along with other policies to support domestic energy production, unions and manufacturing — is designed to restructure our economy from a focus on cheap goods and consumption to a focus on production and innovation.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Trump’s transition team for comment on both bills.
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