Democratic objections to giving President Trump more tariff authority is slowing Senate consideration of a Russia sanctions bill and preventing a potentially unanimous vote to support Ukraine.
As senators spent the last week of July honoring their late colleague Lindsey Graham, they voted to begin debate on a Russia sanctions bill that he had worked on for more than a year. More than 80 senators supported two procedural votes to advance the bill; 12 senators opposed it.
The strong bipartisan showing sends a positive message to Ukraine that the U.S. wants to help it end the war Russia began more than four years ago.
But opposition to the bill’s provisions that would authorize the president to impose hefty tariffs on the largest purchases of Russian oil and gas is undermining the unity of that message.
“Giving him tariff authority that opens up the possibility of playing the kind of up-down, in-out, punish your friends, reward your enemies that Donald Trump has repeatedly used tariffs for is not well designed to put the squeeze on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.
“We could scissor some of that tariff authority out and make this a bill that would have virtually unanimous support in the Senate,” the Massachusetts Democrat added.
Ms. Warren is one of 11 Senate Democrats opposing the sanctions bill over the tariff provisions. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican “no” vote for the same reason.
“I think the tariffs would be devastating to the world economy,” Mr. Paul said. “It’s essentially a vote for a $500 billion increase in taxes.”
The senator calculated that figure based on the bill authorizing tariffs of up to 100% on the top five purchasers of Russian oil.
Mr. Paul and Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, teamed up on an amendment to the bill to strip that provision and others targeting purchasers of Russian gas.
“We shouldn’t trust Trump with more discretion to do tariffs because he’s abused it so badly before,” Mr. Wyden said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, who cowrote the bill, said the latest version that Graham helped secure a deal on just before his death narrowly tailors the tariff provisions so that fewer countries would be targeted.
It would provide exceptions for countries taking steps to reduce imports of Russian natural gas and whose purchases account for less than 15% of Russia’s total annual gas exports. Mr. Blumenthal said the provision ensures that European allies would not be targeted.
The Senate has not been able to quickly move to final passage of the bill because of the push to remove the tariff provisions. But Senate leaders are working on an agreement that will allow them to pass the bill this week before the chamber departs for a month-long recess.
Ms. Warren said stripping the tariff authority would help improve the bill’s prospects in the House.
The top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Ways and Means committees, which have jurisdiction over sanctions and tariffs, oppose the Senate bill.
“This is not so much a sanctions bill as it is a massive backdoor authority for President Trump to impose more tariffs, including on our European allies, that hurt American families,” said Rep. Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“The sanctions the bill does contain are entirely at Donald Trump’s discretion, and he has made clear repeatedly that he would rather waive sanctions on Russia than impose new ones,” he said.
Mr. Meeks said he is open to working with the Senate on “a bipartisan, bicameral product that would actually mandate devastating sanctions on Russia and those fueling its illegal war.” He said such a compromise could be developed from the Ukraine Support Act that the House passed in June.
Democrats supporting the Senate bill say they understand their colleagues’ concerns but do not believe it is reason enough to oppose the underlying effort.
“I’m concerned about expanding Trump’s tariff authority, but when it comes to protecting Ukraine, I’m not ready to make the perfect the enemy of the good,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat.
Sen. Mark Kelly, Arizona Democrat, said he shares his colleagues’ concerns but would not support stripping out the tariff provisions.
“I hope that the president uses this authority in the way it’s intended, to really put some pressure on the Russians,” Mr. Kelly said.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Mr. Trump would be making a strategic error if he did not adhere to the intention of the bill.
“If Trump tries to abuse these tools and continue kowtowing to Putin, he’ll only make himself and our country look weaker,” Mr. Schumer said. “Make no mistake, there is an overwhelming majority in this country that wants to see Russia defeated and Ukraine victorious in this fight against Putin’s authoritarian invasion.”
Mr. Wyden said Mr. Trump cannot be trusted with new tariff authority that he could use to continue targeting U.S. trading partners and raising prices on imported goods Americans rely on.
“Virtually everybody in the Senate, myself included, is supportive of the Russian you know piece of the puzzle,” Mr. Wyden said. “But this tariff question undermines everything that’s going on the domestic side of the house.”
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