{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-introduces-legislation-to-establish-universal-10-percent-tariff", "Golden introduces legislation to establish universal 10 percent tariff", "2025-01-16", "2025", "2025-01", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Jared F. Golden", "G000592", "golden.house.gov", "golden", "https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) today introduced the BUILT USA Act to incentivize American manufacturing, tackle the trade deficit and create jobs by establishing a 10 percent tariff on all imports.\n\n\u201cAfter decades of failed free trade agreements, the hollowing out of American industry and stagnating wages, we owe it to ourselves to ask real questions about what we prioritize in our economy,\u201d Golden said. \u201cThe universal tariff \u2014 along with other policies to support domestic energy production, unions and manufacturing \u2014 is designed to reorient our economy from one focused on cheap goods and consumption to one centered on production and innovation.\u201d\n\nAccording to an analysis last month by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a universal 10 percent tariff would raise $2.2 trillion in revenue through 2034 \u2014 funds Golden advocates be used to reduce the deficit, subsidize American-made products and/or put money in middle-class families\u2019 pockets by extending tax cuts set to expire this year.\n\nAmerica was once the net exporter in the global market, but the era of free trade reversed the trend. The trade balance \u2014 the difference between U.S. exports and U.S. imports \u2014 has been in deficit since the mid-70s and in recent years, the trade deficit has reached nearly $1 trillion.\n\nUpon enactment, the BUILT USA Act (formally the Balance Unequal International Labor and Trade for the United States of America Act) would assess a 10 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.\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s ever-expanding trade deficit is a clear sign that the current global trade regime is stacked against U.S. workers, industries, and communities,\u201d said Oren Cass, founder and chief economist of American Compass. \u201cRep. Golden\u2019s 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.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis bill represents a vital step toward generating revenue, driving economic growth and revitalizing America\u2019s domestic industries,\u201d said Zach Mottl, Chairman of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. \u201cThe heart of the American system of economics lies in empowering the middle class and fostering economic growth by supporting demand for U.S.-made goods. Millions of hardworking Americans have seen their wage growth stymied by imports and they deserve a system that ensures their wages rise faster than their costs. By tackling the trade deficit directly, this bill offers a pathway to strengthening U.S. industries and significantly reducing the debt burden. Tariffs proposed in this legislation are an essential tool to ensure the U.S. economy works for American workers and producers, not foreign competitors.\u201d\n\nThe recent CBO analysis also found that while the 10 percent universal tariff could spur a short-term increase in prices of some foreign goods and services, it would likely reduce the cost of other goods and services, spur income growth in domestic industries and have no long-term effect on inflation.\n\nBackground:\n\nSeventy years ago, employment in manufacturing made up more than 40 percent of nonfarm jobs in Maine, according to the Maine Department of Labor. Today, it\u2019s less than 10 percent. The losses accelerated in the 1990s with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), after which Maine lost one in three manufacturing jobs \u2014 with 25,000 lost to outsourcing alone. Forty percent of those who lost jobs had to take new ones with lower pay.\n\nGolden has been a leading voice for reconfiguring U.S. trade policy in favor of American industry and workers. He also released the BUILT USA Act during the 118th Congress and introduced legislation that would raise tariffs on Chinese imports of automobiles and energy components. He published an essay the same month on the importance of a robust production economy for national security and middle-class prosperity.\n\nIn 2019, he was one of only 41 House members to vote against the United States-Mexico -Canada Agreement, which he called \u201ca missed opportunity to deliver real and lasting change\u201d to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).\n\nFull text of the BUILT USA Act can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T17:10:36Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-introduces-legislation-to-establish-universal-10-percent-tariff"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0392190888524055, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}