Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda (HI-02) introduced a bill that would eliminate President Trump’s “emergency” tariffs on Indo-Pacific allies, reaffirming our nation’s commitment to our key economic partners.
The Chinese Communist Party continues to escalate its aggressive and coercive behavior against our Indo-Pacific partners by developing military bases on artificial islands in the South China Sea, embargoing imports from Pacific countries, and provoking tensions along the border with India, just to name a few examples.
The Indo-Pacific Partner and Ally Tariff Repeal Act would reaffirm and strengthen our nation’s alliances by removing unnecessary and counterproductive tariffs on 40 countries, including Japan and South Korea (15 percent), the Philippines (19 percent), and Taiwan (20 percent).
“At a time when our Indo-Pacific partners face growing intimidation and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party, the United States cannot afford to send mixed signals. Slapping our closest partners with tariffs while they face down growing Chinese aggression is backwards, counterproductive, and dangerous, and hurts American businesses and consumers,” said Rep. Tokuda, member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. “Introducing the Indo-Pacific Partner and Ally Tariff Repeal Act reaffirms our support for their security and our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region. We must stand with our allies, not against them.”
Cosponsors of the bill are Reps. Dina Titus (NV-01), Daniel S. Goldman (NY-10), Jim Costa (CA-21), André Carson (IN-07), Ted Lieu (CA-36), and Ed Case (HI-01).
Full text of the legislation can be found here.
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