Congress wants tariff-setting powers

Congress wants to get back from the Executive Branch the power to set tariffs.

A bill authored by Rep. Exequiel B. Javier of Antique seeks to recapture the power over tariffs which Congress conditionally ceded to the President in 1957 and completely lost in 1976 following the issuance of a Presidential Decree which vested the power to set tariffs on the President.

Javier noted that tariff setting is a question of policy which has a deep impact on the economy.

He cited as an example the importation of cement. "What policy will government adopt? Open the tariff gates for cheap imported cement to protect the construction industry and the consumers? Or maintain a high tariff wall against imported cement to protect the jobs of thousands of workers employed in the local cement industry," he asked.

Congress, Javier said, "must have a say through the power over tariffs." He said such issue, "must not be left to unelected bureaucrats who have no accountability to the people."

According to Javier "the power over tariffs is a constitutional mandate vested in Congress which it may not shirk and leave to unelected bureaucrats to discharge."

As proposed by Javier, the President will still enjoy some power to set tariffs but "only when Congress is in compulsory recess, that is, when Congress adjourns sine die between two regular sessions."

The bill would also restrict the President’s exercise of the power over tariffs for a period of one year only.

Javier’s bill has been forwarded to the House committee on ways and means which is now seeking comments from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) which is the lead agency tasked by the President to deal with tariff issues.