Golden introduces bill to restore American manufacturing with 10 percent tariff on all imports

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) today introduced the BUILT USA Act, to incentivize American manufacturing and job creation and address the nation’s ballooning trade deficit by levying a 10 percent tariff on all imports. 

“America must once again become a nation of producers, not just consumers,” Golden said. “Decades of globalization have transformed our country from an industrial superpower to one that relies on other countries for basic goods. To secure our future in an increasingly competitive world, we must move toward self-sufficiency, industrial strength and the homegrown innovation that goes hand-in-hand with a strong, productive economy. These tariffs put us on a path to that future.”

Upon enactment, the BUILT USA Act (formally the Balance Unequal International Labor and Trade for the United States of America Act) would assess a ten percent tariff to all goods and services imported into the United States. Each subsequent calendar year, this duty would increase or decrease by 5 percent depending on whether America maintains a trade deficit or surplus, respectively. 

Tariffs have been embraced by presidents of both parties, with former President Donald Trump setting new tariffs on Chinese imports, which were kept on the books and in some cases expandedunder President Joe Biden. 

“Recent history is bipartisan recognition that the era of free-wheeling free-trade that cost Maine so much must come to an end, as a matter of both national security and economic interest,” Golden said. “We must act to reposition ourselves in the world economy, to a place of strength and self-sufficiency.”

The trade balance — the difference between U.S. exports and U.S. imports — has been in deficit since the mid-70s. In recent years, the figure has approached nearly $1 trillion. 

“America’s ever-expanding trade deficit is a clear sign that the current global trade regime is stacked against U.S. workers, industries, and communities,” Oren Cass, founder and chief economist of American Compass, said. “Rep. Golden’s BUILT USA Act will address this global trade imbalance head on, reassert U.S. economic interests, and help reestablish the industrial base that made America the most innovative, prosperous, and resilient nation in the world.”

“This bill is a win for revenue, growth, and the revitalization of our domestic industries," Michael Stumo, CEO of Coalition for a Prosperous America said. "The American System of economics is centered around making the middle class wealthier and boosting economic growth by selling to our own middle class. In contrast, countries like China overproduce and displace American workers and manufacturers, leading to massive trade deficits that drain U.S. demand for American-made products. We’ve been trying to compensate for these deficits with fiscal spending that only increases our unsustainable debt. By addressing the trade deficit, we can not only strengthen our domestic industries but also dramatically reduce the nation’s debt burden. Tariffs, like the ones proposed in this bill, are a crucial tool to ensure that our economy works for American workers and producers, not foreign adversaries.”

Background: 

Seventy years ago, employment in manufacturing made up over 40 percent of nonfarm jobs in Maine, according to the Maine Department of Labor. Today, it’s less than 10 percent. The losses accelerated in the 1990s with the signing of NAFTA, after which Maine lost one in three manufacturing jobs — with 25,000 lost to outsourcing alone. Forty percent of those who lost jobs had to take new ones with lower pay.

Golden has been a leading voice for reconfiguring U.S. trade policy in favor of American industry and workers. In May, he introduced legislation that would raise tariffs on Chinese imports of automobiles and energy components to ensure America’s industrial base, and thus its future, is strong. He published an essay the same month on the importance of a robust production economy for national security and middle-class prosperity. 

In 2019, he was one of only 41 House members to vote against the United States-Mexico -Canada Agreement, which he called “a missed opportunity to deliver real and lasting change” to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). 

Full text of his legislation can be found here.

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