President Donald Trump came to Capitol Hill to deliver his State of the Union speech needing to sell his tariff agenda to a skeptical public. He did so by touting the trade accords he reached with foreign countries, the peace deals he said tariffs helped them reach — and by saying that the money the levies generate could one day replace the current income tax system.
“As time goes by, I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern day system of income tax taking a great financial burden off the people that I love,” the president said Tuesday night.
He decried the Supreme Court’s Friday ruling that struck down his sweeping emergency tariffs as “very unfortunate,” and said that he would soon institute a new tariff regime under federal authorities he said have been “time tested and approved.”
While some of the tariff statutes under consideration by the administration have been previously invoked, he is for the first time invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to implement 10 percent global tariffs, a number he said he may soon raise to 15 percent.
Trump also said that he would move forward with his tariffs without the help of Congress, even as some members of his own party have voiced opposition to the sweeping nature of the duties he has opposed — and at times voted against them.
“Congressional action will not be necessary,” he said.