Cantwell Critical of Trade Chaos as Trump Administration Rejects Rules-Based Trade System
Under questioning from Cantwell, Bessent downplays the need for predictability and transparency in trade policies; Cantwell: “We have to be for a rules-based regime”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on whether he believes there should be any rules or boundaries around the Trump Administration’s ability to sow chaos in global markets by unilaterally and arbitrarily setting and repealing tariffs.
Sen. Cantwell: “Do you believe in a rules-based trade regime?”
Bessent: “I believe that the international economic system has failed the American workers, Senator. And for too long, we have adhered to a system that does not work. And I believe in Einstein saying that doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome is the very definition of insanity.”
Sen. Cantwell: “I don't understand how we in the United States don't win without saying that we're going to have a rules-based system. I mean, part of how we win is we get more people on our side about the rules, and set the rules, and then make everybody adhere to them. So, if it's not rules-based, then it becomes more ad hoc in the process, and that's why I think it is troubling and hard to follow […] Do you think the administration believes in multilaterals?”
Bessent: “I believe that the -- we attempt to use multilaterals, but I believe that it has failed the American people.”
Video of the hearing is available HERE; audio is HERE; a full transcript of their exchange is HERE.
Following the hearing, Sen. Cantwell issued the following statement:
“A transparent rules-based trading system is how we open markets, level the playing field, and boost exports and create the high-wage jobs they support,” Sen. Cantwell said. “We have to be for a rules-based regime, especially since the rest of the world trade partners have produced more than 90 trade agreements since 2017.”
In the same time period, the United States has only updated the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Yesterday, Sen. Cantwell joined her colleagues at a spotlight forum focused on the long-term damage that President Trump’s trade war is inflicting on America’s long-term competitiveness.
Earlier this week, Sen. Cantwell joined 30 Senators in filing an amicus brief in a key case, Oregon v. Department of Homeland Security, challenging the Trump Administration’s abuse of emergency powers to impose global tariffs. Last month, the U.S. Court of International Trade held in that case that the Trump Administration lacked authority to issue the challenged tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—a statute that no president prior to President Donald Trump has ever tried to use to impose tariffs. The Senators’ amicus brief argues the court, which has unique and specific nationwide jurisdiction over issues related to U.S. customs and international trade laws, decided the issue correctly.
In April, Sen. Cantwell introduced the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025 to reaffirm Congress’ key role in setting and approving U.S. trade policy, and reestablish limits on the president’s ability to impose unilateral tariffs. Her bill has since picked up 12 additional cosponsors – an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats – and been endorsed by multiple major U.S. business organizations, including the National Retail Federation, which is the largest retail trade association in the world. House members also introduced a bipartisan companion bill.
On April 16, Sen. Cantwell joined nine local business owners and leaders at the Port of Seattle to push back against the Trump administration’s chaotic tariffs-first trade policy. On May 29, she gathered stakeholders at the Port of Seattle again to respond to the chaos caused by President Donald Trump scrambling to keep his draconian tariffs in place amid court challenges.
“American businesses need a rules-based trade system. That means American families would have the certainty, not chaos and not higher prices. We know this: That when you start trade wars, usually that means you end up closing markets,” Sen. Cantwell said in at the May 29 press conference.
In Washington state, two out of every five jobs are tied to trade and trade-related industries. More information about how those tariffs will affect consumers and businesses in the State of Washington can be found HERE.
For the past four months, President Trump has been sowing economic chaos across the country with unpredictable and ever-changing tariff announcements. His back-and-forth announcements and actions have whipsawed American businesses and consumers, as well as close neighbors and allies.
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell recently warned, “What looks likely, given the scope and scale of the tariffs, is that … the risks to higher inflation, higher unemployment have increased.” This week, the Federal Reserve issued its “beige book” report, which found that all 12 Federal Reserve Districts “indicated that higher tariff rates were putting upward pressure on costs and prices.” Today, the World Bank also said that because of a “substantial rise in trade barriers,” it is cutting its forecast for U.S. economic growth in 2025 in half, while also cutting its estimate for global economic growth, and warned that the world economy “is once more running into turbulence” and “Without a swift course correction, the harm to living standards could be deep.’’
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