The bill – known as the ‘United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act’ – would allow the US President to raise US taxes on imports and exports, completely undermining the whole World Trade Organisation (WTO) system, according to a leaked draft obtained by news site Axios.
The WTO’s rules are designed to settle international trade disputes, end unfair trade practices, and prevent potential trade wars, but Trump reportedly says that foreign countries use the organisation to “screw the United States”.
It’s the acronym for the Act that’s caught the attention of Twitter though.
Sources say the good news is most of the officials involved in the bill think it will be “dead on arrival” – because Congress doesn’t want to hand over more authority to Trump.
Given some of the President’s recent policy decisions, we can see why.
