Senators make a bipartisan push to limit Trump's trade powers

By Haley Byrd, CNN

Updated 9:26 AM ET, Tue February 5, 2019

(CNN) - As President Donald Trump prepares to once again make a bipartisan appeal in his State of the Union address Tuesday, members of Congress are linking arms on one of his favorite issues: trade.

Yet they're working against the president, seeking to limit his authority to impose tariffs unilaterally on national security grounds, as he did last year on steel and aluminum, sparking a dispute with the European Union and alienating close partners such as Canada and Mexico.

Multiple Republican lawmakers are working alongside Democrats to put forward legislation curtailing Trump's existing national security tariff powers. They include Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who recently introduced a bill with Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner that would require congressional approval to impose trade restrictions for national security reasons.

"It is not impossible for there to be a very good reason to use trade measures in response to a genuine national security threat," Toomey told reporters after introducing the bill. "However, we have seen this administration use this tool in a way that was never intended."

more
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/05/politics/trump-trade-congress/index.html