By The Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas pushed back against President Donald Trump’s vision of a trade war by joining a dozen cosponsors of federal legislation restricting unilateral tariffs without consent of Congress.
Under a Senate bill, a U.S. president would be required to inform Congress within 48 hours of issuing a new or modified tariff. A duty levied by the executive branch would expire unless the House and Senate passed a joint resolution within 60 days endorsing a tariff.
Moran said he joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, supporting restoration of Congress’ constitutional role in setting U.S. trade policy.
“The Constitution gives Congress the authority to make decisions regarding foreign commerce, including tariffs,” Moran said. “This legislation allows the president to use tariffs to respond to emergencies while permitting Congress to weigh the appropriateness of any tariffs that are imposed.”
Trump indicated he would veto the trade legislation if adopted by the House and Senate.
Global financial markets were thrown into disarray as investors responded the Trump’s tariffs on imports from dozens of countries. The S&P 500 finished Monday almost 18% below its February peak. Anxiety remained high due to concern Trump’s trade war could undermine economic growth and trigger inflation.
Moran said in a statement unfair trading practices by foreign countries had harmed U.S. producers, workers and consumers. Congress and the Trump administration should work to prevent American jobs from being lost to other countries due to distorted trade policies, he said.
He said tariffs had in the past caused the loss of agricultural markets to other countries. He expressed hope Trump’s latest round of trade sanctions would serve a purpose “quickly and, where appropriate, be lowered or eliminated.”
“American tariffs are often met with reciprocal tariffs, which are frequently aimed at our farmers and ranchers,” Moran said.
The tariff bill attracted 13 cosponsors that included Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine.
Moran wasn’t joined in support of the Trade Review Act of 2025 by his Kansas peer, GOP Sen. Roger Marshall. On NewsNation, Marshall said Trump’s tariffs would bring manufacturing jobs to the United States, but the process would involve “short-term pain.”
Meanwhile, Moran said he met with representatives of the Kansas Farm Bureau and associations representing the state’s corn, sorghum and soybean farmers to discuss challenges and opportunities posed by tariffs. Kansas grows more crops than the state could consume and international markets have been a substantial source of income to farmers.
“We discussed opportunities for Kansas farmers through bilateral trade agreements with new international trading partners that Kansas commodities have not historically had as customers or where there is opportunity for increased demand,” the senator said.
Moran said trade conflict emerged as the agriculture economy endured high input costs, low commodity prices, record land values and extreme weather. He promised to advocate for legislation designed to “ensure the survival of family farms in Kansas.”
