Cassidy in March. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Bill Cassidy is trying to make his new carbon tariff proposal fit into the larger world of Trump tariffs.
Why it matters: The Foreign Pollution Fee Act is a GOP policy marker that has some buy-in from Trumpworld — but it enters an uncertain era of global trade and a burgeoning tariff war.
Driving the news: The bill, reintroduced Tuesday, would impose a fee on a slew of industrial imports — including iron, steel, aluminum, cement, glass, fertilizer, hydrogen and solar components — based on their greenhouse gas emissions.
- The latest version drops oil and gas from that list. It would also spell out a formula for charging imports from countries based on their specific pollution profile relative to U.S. products.
- And it would let companies reduce tariffs by buying carbon removal credits.
The big picture: It's a long shot to pass in the near term, but the trade war changes by the day.
- Supporters see it as a way to achieve durable tariff policy that lasts beyond President Trump's tariffs, many of which were put on hold Wednesday afternoon.
- The next president could issue their own executive order, "and it's gone," Cassidy said at an event Tuesday hosted by the Climate Leadership Council. "It's important that it be set up by Congress."
- Cassidy's bill would "ground that trade conversation in something concrete, in terms of relative pollution from different countries," said Kevin Rennert of Resources for the Future.
Between the lines: Trump, during his speech last week announcing the tariffs, talked about other countries creating "filthy pollution havens" that have hurt U.S. manufacturers that comply with environmental regulations.
- Cassidy said he sees that as an encouraging sign, on top of the statements of support he gathered from Trump nominees during their confirmation hearings.
- He also said the Trump-y America First Policy Institute agreed to be listed as a supporter of the legislation.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who's leading the carbon tariff charge on the Democratic side, told Axios he's still hoping to work with Cassidy on a bipartisan bill.
- But asked where carbon tariffs fit into Trump's tariff regime, Whitehouse replied, "Who knows?"
- "If you can decode what this insane administration is doing with tariffs, you're a better man than I am."
