10.22.25

Cantwell Joins Merkley During Marathon Speech Against Authoritarianism And Calls Out Trump’s Tariff Tyranny: “The President Is Abusing These Powers.”

In exchange on the Senate floor, the PNW colleagues highlighted the long-term impact of disrupting the export market: “When you try to get it back, the country is already in business with somebody else” Trump’s trade war with China has decimated the export market for soybeans; Columbia River ports are a top exporter of U.S. soybeans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined her colleague from the Pacific Northwest, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), during his marathon speech on the Senate floor pushing back against President Donald Trump’s authoritarian actions.

Their exchange focused on a specific Trump administration policy with an outsized impact on their region: The president’s unpredictable and volatile tariff policy, specifically as it relates to soybeans. Columbia River ports are currently grappling with a huge dip in U.S. soybean exports – once a key export for the region – due to China’s retaliatory boycott on U.S.-grown soybeans.

“You know that the Pacific Northwest has a big export economy. We have many ports. People may not know, but we probably export a significant amount of soybeans,” Sen. Cantwell said. “These growers, particularly in the Midwest, are on their heels over this. This is having huge economic impact.”

She continued: “And instead of our colleagues dealing with this authority and dealing with the fact that their own constituents are getting run over, they're still ignoring the fact that the President is abusing these powers.”

“It is these kinds of activities that lose you shelf space. [They] go to some other country, and then when you try to get it back, the country is already in business with somebody else. So, this is affecting our growers across the United States. It's time for our colleagues to admit that this is an abuse of power and help us reign it back in. And so, I so appreciate your efforts here to talk about authoritarianism.”

Sen. Merkley, who at the time of their exchange had been holding the Senate floor for nearly 16 hours, pointed out that American soybean farmers are now grappling with a massive oversupply thanks to President Trump’s decimation of the trade relationship with China.

"I appreciate my colleague’s question regarding particularly the soybeans. And my understanding is that China was a major consumer of soybeans, and they have bought exactly zero beans. A massive, massive amount in the past, but now, when you go from huge tonnage-- ships and ships full of soybeans-- and then you drop down to zero. Wow! The over production of soybeans. How do I-- price drops on them. How do I-- what do I do? How do I store them? They're going to go bad. Where else in the world can I find a market? Can I get China back when all this fuss ends?

“And meanwhile, Brazil is stepping up in the soybean world to provide that supply and will, once you—it so often, once you lose that relationship and that trust and the personal connections, it's very hard to get those customers back,” Sen. Merkley responded.

Video of their exchange is available HERE; a full transcript is HERE. As of this release, Sen. Merkley is still speaking.

The Columbia River shipping industry transports approximately $31 billion in goods each year and supports tens of thousands of jobs across the region in both Washington and Oregon. In 2024, around 7.2 million metric tons of soybeans were exported from the ports of Vancouver, Kalama, and Longview. So far in 2025, they’ve transported just 1.7 million metric tons.

This week, it was reported that for the first time in seven years, last month China imported no soybeans from the U.S. – as China instead turned to countries in South America. The president of the American Soybean Association, Caleb Ragland – who testified before the Senate Finance Committee on which Sen. Cantwell sits earlier this year – has said, “This is a five-alarm fire for our industry.”

Earlier this year, Sen. Cantwell introduced the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025, which is modeled after the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and would reestablish limits on the president’s ability to impose unilateral tariffs without the approval of Congress. 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. A bipartisan companion bill was subsequently introduced in the House.

On Sept. 18, Sen. Cantwell joined a group of small business owners from across the country in a press conference on the steps of the Supreme Court to push back against President Trump’s reckless tariff policies. Video of the press conference is available HERE; photos are HERE.

In Washington state, two out of every five jobs are tied to trade and trade-related industries. Moreover, according to the U.S. Trade Representative, nationally, jobs supported by the export of goods pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average. More information about how those tariffs will affect consumers and businesses in the State of Washington can be found HERE.