April 02, 2025

New Dems Rebuke Largest Tax Increase in History on American Consumers and Businesses

Today, New Democrat Coalition Chair Brad Schneider (IL-10) and Trade & Tariffs Task Force Chair Don Beyer (VA-08) issued a statement following President Trump’s announcement of 25 percent taxes on all automobile imports and between 10 and 50 percent taxes on virtually every good imported from every U.S. trading partner:

“President Trump’s latest announcement of a massive tax increase in the form of sweeping tariffs will not ‘liberate’ working people or businesses in America – it will handcuff them to a sinking economy weighed down by the President’s reckless, costly, and destructive trade policy.

“The President’s premise that imposing the largest tax increase in American history will strengthen our economy and lower prices will undoubtedly prove to be one of the dumbest economic policy blunders in decades. These across-the-board taxes will hit the bank accounts of hardworking families and the bottom lines of small businesses as the price of every good increases, from consumer goods like gas, groceries, and cars to raw materials like lumber, minerals, and metals.

“President Trump has no clear strategy to strengthen our economy – his own team didn't even know his plan – and he sees these taxes on consumers not as a means to an end, but as the end goal itself. This approach simply ignores reality, and it's why industry leaders, economists, and the stock market have been sounding the alarm for weeks.

“It’s time Republicans join Democrats in taking urgent action to restrict the President’s ability to impose these taxes unilaterally. That’s why we introduced legislation to enforce Congress’s constitutional duty to oversee trade policy, and we call on our colleagues across the aisle to join us in standing up for the American people by ending President Trump’s harmful campaign.”

New Dem Members have introduced several bills to counter Trump’s unilateral tariffs and reclaim congressional authority to levy taxes, including the:

  • Repealing Outdated and Unilateral Tariff Authorities Act (H.R.2464), 

  • Prevent Tariff Abuse Act (H.R.407),

  • Congressional Trade Authority Act (H.R.1903), and

  • Reclaim Trade Powers Act (H.R.2459).



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