U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill Monday to send a tariff rebate check to every working American.
President Donald Trump voiced support for this policy as recently as Monday morning when he discussed record-breaking tariff revenue.
“Working people need relief now,” Hawley wrote in a social media post. “They’ve earned it. Let’s return their money to them asap.”
He added: “Like President Trump proposed, my legislation would allow hard-working Americans to benefit from the wealth that Trump’s tariffs are returning to this country,” Hawley said in a statement.
The legislation would provide tariff rebate checks of at least $600 per adult and child to American families, similar to the stimulus checks the government distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Trump has been working to reorder global trade through tariffs to give U.S. companies an advantage at home. He has said he is open to rebate checks for Americans.
Trump has said he wants to use tariffs to restore manufacturing jobs lost to lower-wage countries in decades past, shift the tax burden away from U.S. families and pay down the national debt.
Economists, businesses and some publicly traded companies have warned that tariffs could raise prices on a wide range of consumer products.
A tariff is a tax on imported goods paid by the person or company that imports the goods. The importer can absorb the cost of the tariffs or try to pass the cost on to consumers through higher prices.
