The U.S.-China talks continued on Tuesday, as the Trump administration pushes to speed up the trade negotiation process. The U.S. sent a letter to trade partners as a “friendly reminder” that President Trump’s self-imposed 90-day pause on sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire July 9.
While some news reports framed the letter as an ultimatum, other reports have described the letter as a way to steer ongoing trade talks rather than an ultimatum.
Either way, trade negotiation progress to date has been slow. The only agreement so far has been with the United Kingdom (UK) and called the U.S.-UK Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD), a framework agreement announced by President Trump in May.
Specific to agriculture, the EPD includes commitments to remove the UK’s 20% retaliatory tariff on U.S. beef and offers duty-free quotas for U.S. beef and ethanol. However, the agreement is not legally binding.
Too Many Countries At The Table
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said on Monday that part of the challenge is the Trump administration is trying to negotiate with too many countries at one time.
“You’re having real serious negotiations with 18 countries, including China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, England, Indonesia, India – all of those are big trading partners of ours. But instead of trying to do 18 all at once, I would like to have you bring some certainty and the impression that you’re accomplishing something, reach an agreement with one or two and announce it,” Grassley advised. “That’s what I think would be good.”
The senior senator from Iowa, serving since 1981, said he is concerned about how the protracted trade and tariff discussions are impacting the U.S. economy.
“You keep reading in the business newspapers and publications about the fact that business is holding up making decisions because they don’t know what’s really happening out there in the trade world,” he said. “And if you have these big tariffs that go up [on July 9] … I think it just slows down the economy, I guess is the best way to say it.”
Does Congress Need More Authority Over Tariffs?
In a discussion on AgriTalk, Host Chip Flory asked Grassley whether Congress should have more say on whether and when tariffs are used by the U.S.
“Yeah, we made a big mistake back in 1974,” Grassley replied, referencing the Trade Act of 1974, a significant step Congress took to delegate more tariff authority to the executive branch.
“Once [authority] is delegated away, I’m telling you, it’s hard to get it back, because unless you have a two-thirds vote of Congress to get it back, you’ve got to count on the president giving up any authority that Congress has given them,” he said. “And I’m not talking just about Trump. I’m talking about any president in the past or any president in the future. They’ve got this power and are not going to want to give it up.”
It’s one reason why Grassley said he decided to co-sponsor a bill with Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell that would require presidents to justify new tariffs and secure congressional approval within 60 days; otherwise, the tariffs would expire.
Grassley said he was working on the bill before the current trade tariff issues became a major focus.
“It’s not affecting what Trump’s doing right now. I know he won the election, he has a mandate to do what he’s doing, and I hope he’s successful,” Grassley told Flory.
If passed, the “Trade Review Act of 2025” would require congressional approval of tariffs proposed by the executive branch.
The bill restores Congress’ authority and responsibility over tariffs as outlined in Article I, Section 8.
Under this legislation, the president must notify Congress of the imposition of (or increase in) the tariff within 48 hours. The notification must include an explanation of the president’s reasoning for imposing or raising the tariff and provide analysis of potential impact on American businesses and consumers, according to the bill’s text.
“In the future, the way I [see this] is the president puts on a tariff, and within 60 days Congress can review it, and we can reject it,” Grassley said.
During the wide-ranging discussion on AgriTalk, Grassley also weighed in on the budget reconciliation bill (the “one big, beautiful bill”), saying progress is being made. He expects the Senate to have a bill ready for review by the end of the week.
Grassley said the bill would include provisions likely to be supported by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Hear more of the key highlights, including Grassley’s expectations on reference pricing and funding for exports on AgriTalk:
Your next read: What’s Missing in the Big Beautiful Bill When It Comes to Agriculture?
