U.S. Rep. Riley Moore attended Monday’s inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol’s rotunda. (Photo Provided)

CHARLESTON — While all eyes are on the U.S. Senate as it meets through the weekend to confirm some of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees, West Virginia’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives is introducing new bills.
Second District Congressman Riley Moore, R-W.Va., announced Friday that he was introducing his first bill as a lead sponsor, the United States Reciprocal Trade Act, along with eight co-sponsors.
The Reciprocal Trade Act would authorize Trump to directly negotiate with other countries to either lower foreign tariffs on American goods or to issue reciprocal tariffs on those countries and imported goods into the U.S. According to Moore, the bill will give Trump the tools needed to restore balance with other countries when it comes to exports of manufactured goods from the U.S.
“American manufacturing has endured decades of decline under the globalist system that has hollowed out our industrial base and shipped countless jobs overseas. Leaders in both political parties deserve blame. But those days are over,” Moore said. “President Trump was the first national politician in my lifetime to recognize this problem, campaign on it, and work to reverse that trend. With the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act, we’ll give the Executive the leverage necessary to go to bat for the American people and achieve tariff reductions on U.S. goods.”
Co-sponsors of the Reciprocal Trade Act include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Addison McDowell, R-N.C.; Mike Collins, R-Ga.; Nick Begich, R-Ark.; Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz.; Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga.; Brian Jack, R-Ga.; and Michael Rulli, R-Ohio.
According to Moore, the Reciprocal Trade Act will make good on Trump’s Agenda 47 policy agenda, first released in June 2023, to passed what Trump called the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act. Trump called for legislation allowing him to be able to levy tariffs on foreign countries equal to any tariffs appointed by that country on U.S. goods.
“Under the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, other countries will have two choices–they’ll get rid of their tariffs on us, or they will pay us hundreds of billions of dollars, and the United States will make an absolute FORTUNE,” Trump said. “If India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff. In other words, 100 percent is 100 percent. If they charge US, we charge THEM–an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”
Monday following his inauguration for a second non-consecutive term as president, Trump announced plans to implement a 25% tariff on products from Canada and Mexico effective Saturday, Feb. 1, with an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods announced Tuesday. All three countries represent the United State’s largest trade partners.
Derek Scissors, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, argued in a post earlier this week that Trump’s tariff war with China could have a reverse effect and widen the trade gap between the two countries.
“If he does this, President Trump will give us a bigger trade deficit with China,” Scissors said. “A much bigger China deficit if tariffs against other democracies or a global tariff also make them less competitive. And inflation could be a bigger threat than the first term, because substitute producers have been hit. (Hiking tariffs slowly so inflation spreads out is pulling a band-aid off slowly; it’s not less painful.)”
First District Congresswoman Carol Miller, R-W.Va., introduced the Chemical Tax Repeal Act Friday with three of her House colleagues.
The Chemical Tax Repeal Act would eliminate Superfund excise taxes imposed by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on certain chemicals and imported chemical substances.
“This shameful chemical tax has resulted in increased costs for household goods and placed U.S. chemical manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage compared to our foreign adversaries, such as China,” Miller said. “I am joining my colleagues in re-introducing the Chemical Tax Repeal Act to protect working Americans, lower costs, and promote fair opportunities for American manufacturers to compete globally.”
Co-sponsors on the Chemical Tax Repeal Act include Reps Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas; Darin LaHood, R-Ill.; and Mike Carey, R-Ohio.
The bill is supported by the American Chemistry Council, which cites a Joint Committee on Taxation estimate that the Superfund excise taxes could harm the economy to the tune of $15 billion through the end of 2031 when the taxes would expire. ACC President and CEO Chris Jahn said the tax targets several key chemicals commonly used in the manufacturing sector, such as ethylene, propylene, and chlorine among others.
“These misguided taxes affect chemical supply chains and markets and continue to raise costs for consumers and businesses,” Jahn said. “These chemicals are basic building blocks for chemistries used in light vehicles, building and construction, business equipment, water delivery and purification, and many other final products. As a result of the taxes, U.S. manufacturing competitiveness is undercut by countries like China.”
But the excise tax helps fund Superfund cleanup of abandoned toxic sites. According to Politico’s E and E News, Environmental Protection Agency tax receipts for fiscal year 2024 came in at $1.2 billion, below the $2.5 billion estimate. Environment America, an environmental advocacy organization, praised the reinstatement of the Superfund excise taxes in 2021.
“Toxic waste continues to threaten our waterways and the drinking water of countless Americans,” said John Rumpler, clean water program director for Environment America. “With new funding for Superfund, we can speed the clean up of this legacy pollution.”
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com