Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) President Dennis Slater issued the following statement today in response to the bipartisan effort by U.S. Senators to require congressional approval of national security-designated tariffs.

“We applaud this effort by a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators to strengthen our nation’s system of checks and balances, especially as it relates to this administration’s decision to place harmful tariffs on steel and aluminum. We fully believe in Congress’ authority to ‘regulate foreign trade’ and urge other members of the U.S. Senate to support this bipartisan bill.”

“As we’ve said before, starting a trade war with our nation’s largest trading partners and allies disrupts our entire global trading system and could jeopardize many of the 1.3 million good-paying jobs our industry supports. These harmful tariffs directly contribute to higher steel prices and increase costs for agriculture and construction machinery, making it very difficult for our industry to continue generating roughly $159 billion to the U.S. economy each year.”

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill yesterday that would require congressional approval of tariffs designated under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. AEM issued a statement May 31 opposing the White House’s decision to move forward with tariffs on European, Canadian, and Mexican steel and aluminum. AEM also released a TV ad in this past March discouraging the steel tariffs.

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AEM is the North American-based international trade group representing off-road equipment manufacturers and suppliers, with more than 950 companies and more than 200 product lines in the agriculture and construction-related industry sectors worldwide. The equipment manufacturing industry in the United States supports 1.3 million jobs and contributes roughly $159 billion to the economy every year.