Earlier this afternoon, Sen. Pat Toomey (R‑PA) used his final speech on the Senate floor to criticize the Trump and Biden administrations’ bogus “national security” tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. As Cato scholars have noted, the statute used to impose these tariffs—Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962—has been rife with abuse.

Sen. Toomey had three primary criticisms of the tariffs. First, the Trump-Biden steel and aluminum tariffs have hurt U.S. consumers and manufacturers in particular. Workers in steel-consuming domestic industries outnumber workers in steel production by a ratio of about 80 to 1. Raising input prices for U.S. manufacturers makes them less competitive in global markets.

Second, Sen. Toomey correctly noted that these massive tax increases were levied unilaterally by the executive branch under the false guise of “national security.” Yet even the Department of Defense estimated that the military only needs about three percent of total domestic steel production to meet its demands. It was never truly about national security; it was always about rank protectionism.

Third, Sen. Toomey noted that Congress and courts have been too deferential toward the national security pretext for import restrictions and thus there is essentially no limiting factor on the executive branch’s authority in this space. As a result, the Biden administration is currently considering utilizing the same “national security” statute to create a so-called “carbon club”—threat of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum—to force countries to reduce their emissions in the production of these products.

The entire speech is worth watching:

Earlier this year, Sen. Toomey was the keynote speaker at a Cato event hosted in conjunction with the release of a study entitled “The (Updated) Case for Free Trade” authored by my colleagues Scott Lincicome and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon.

Finally, it is worth noting that over his time in public life, Sen. Toomey has been a stalwart defender of the freedom to peacefully trade and invest across borders. His departure leaves a tremendous void for the noble cause of free trade. Hopefully others will pick up the mantle.