Congress demands a say before tariffs hit your grocery bill
H.R. 2842 — Stop Raising Prices on Food Act · Filed by Adam Gray (D-CA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Apr 10, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the President to get Congressional approval before imposing new tariffs on agricultural imports from the top 5 countries that sell farm goods to the US (treating the EU as one country). The President must submit a detailed request explaining why tariffs are needed, why diplomacy won't work, and what impact they'll have on American farmers—and Congress must pass a joint resolution authorizing the tariff before it can take effect.
Why we flagged it
The bill's functional purpose is to transfer tariff-proclamation authority from the President to require Congressional approval via joint resolution. It is a procedural/governance reform, not a substantive trade or agricultural policy change.
What the text implies
- Expedited procedures under Trade Act § 152 may allow tariffs to be approved quickly despite the Congressional-approval requirement, potentially undermining the bill's intent to slow executive action.
- The definition of 'covered country' is dynamic (top 5 by import volume each fiscal year), meaning tariff restrictions shift annually and may create uncertainty for trading partners and US importers.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
US agricultural exporters and farmers (if tariffs are blocked); Food importers and retailers (if tariffs are blocked); Agricultural trading partners (if tariffs are blocked)