Welch on Trump’s Trade War: “From my perspective—and obviously the court’s perspective—he’s overreaching. He’s acting beyond the scope of authority that he has as the chief executive of our country.”
BURLINGTON, VT – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined CBC Radio One’s The Current to reflect on his recent trip to Ottawa, where he and a bipartisan Congressional Delegation discussed the trade war with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other Canadian leaders. In the interview, Senator Welch also reacted to the U.S. Court of International Trade’s ruling halting President Trump’s so-called ‘reciprocal’ global tariffs, and tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Matt Galloway: “You have called Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, in your words, ‘really, really stupid.’ What did you make of this court ruling?”
Senator Welch: “Well, it’s welcome news. The reality is that in the United States, under our Constitution, a tariff is a tax, and the originating body has to be the Congress. The president has hijacked that authority, supposedly invoking emergency powers. I think that was bogus and that it has done a lot of damage. This court ruling says what I think is true: the president and executive, whether it’s Trump or anyone else, does not have the unilateral authority to arbitrarily and whimsically impose these tariffs without congressional approval.”
Galloway: “It’s interesting, this court has appointees from Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. Do you think that the Trump Administration will abide by their decision?”
Welch: “Open question. As you said, when there is a court ruling the Trump Administration disagrees with, it accuses the judges of being unelected people who have no authority. Under our system of justice, and our constitutional order—the court—that is their job to make a determination as to whether a law or an action by the executive is within the bounds of the constitution. It’s ‘situation normal’ and ‘reaction normal’ from Trump. If he doesn’t like the decision, he says it’s bogus. He has disregarded many decisions, I think it’ll be tougher, on this one, for him to do so.”
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Galloway: “As you said, this was a bipartisan group of Members that came to Ottawa, both Democrat and Republican. What is your sense as to how willing the parties are to work together when it comes to mending offenses?”
Welch: “Well, here’s the dilemma that we have—this is our problem: There’s widespread opposition to the tariffs, because—whether you voted for Trump, you voted for Harris—these tariffs are making your business running your business very, very difficult. But the reality, politically, for us right now is Trump continues to have a pretty iron grip on the Republicans in Congress. So, at a certain point, my Republican colleagues are going to have to decide whether they’re going to defer to the president or listen to the people they represent. Because whether you’re in a Republican state like North Dakota or…a Democratic state like Vermont, our businesses in both states, our hospitality industry, they’re being affected. And of course, Canada is a major trading partner for 34 states. It is for Vermont, but we’re one of 34 states. And this is something that is now integrated into the economies of 34 of our states, and really our country.
“These tariffs make absolutely no sense, and many of us are saying that. But Trump’s in charge, and from my perspective—and obviously the court’s perspective—he’s overreaching. He’s acting beyond the scope of authority that he has as the chief executive of our country.”
Listen to the episode here:
This week in Manchester, Senator Welch brought together Vermont businesses and manufacturers to hear directly how global tariffs and President Trump’s trade war are impacting them. The event was held at The Orvis Company. Read more about the event here.
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