By Florida state Rep. Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point
As the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the future of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, it’s worth exploring alternative policies that can still achieve the America First trade agenda with lasting benefits for our nation’s economy and our global environment. A tariff on foreign pollution is a simple, effective and durable solution.
Here in Florida, we invest significant resources — time, energy and money — to restore and protect our environment and strengthen resilience against weather and climate conditions. This year alone, we allocated more than $1.5 billion in environmental protection and restoration projects. Through programs like Florida Forever and the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, we’re acquiring critical conservation lands and protecting essential wildlife habitats in perpetuity. We’ve adopted a comprehensive strategy to reduce risks of flooding, hurricanes, wildfires and other natural hazards.
All of this was achieved with strong conservative leadership in Florida — Republicans who value our natural resources and know what an important role they play in our economy.
But there is only so much we can do on the state level when many of the threats to our air, water and precious ecosystems in Florida are fueled by foreign countries. We need a federal trade policy to hold foreign polluters accountable.
Countries like China let their industries pollute freely, dumping chemicals into rivers, pumping toxins into the air and throwing plastics into the ocean. These aren’t isolated incidents. They are the foundation of their economic strategy.
President Trump put it plainly: These countries have become “filthy pollution havens.” They ignore the latest technologies and innovations that we use in America to mitigate our impact on the environment, choosing instead to cut corners and poison the planet. Not only do they intentionally harm our environment, but their cheap and dirty practices undercut U.S. manufacturers, harm American businesses and stifle our nation’s prosperity.
That’s why we need to take strong action to rein in China’s pollution and level the playing field for American businesses to compete.
A pollution-based tariff forces foreign producers to pay a price for using lax environmental standards as an inherent subsidy. It goes after how goods are made, not just where they are made. That means it’s harder to evade, harder for China to game and harder for multinational corporations to exploit with clever paper shuffling.
A pollution tariff protects American businesses that already follow the rules. It rewards more efficient domestic manufacturing and helps the United States reshore jobs and supply chains. It strengthens our industrial base with the clean, innovative production methods we excel at here in the United States.
Importantly, the president already has full legal authority to impose tariffs when other nations’ behavior places an unreasonable burden on our economy, including through environmental negligence. The evidence is overwhelming and very difficult for high-polluting foreign governments to credibly challenge.
In addition to executive action, the Foreign Pollution Fee Act offers a strong legislative path to lock this policy in place. The legislation was filed this year by Republican U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. It would levy fees on the world’s biggest polluters like China and Russia. Not only would this tariff hold foreign countries accountable, it would also boost U.S. manufacturing and incentivize cleaner production abroad.
Congress should advance this initiative to make President Trump’s America First trade revolution permanent. A pollution tariff is a lasting solution that brings benefits to our state and our nation for years to come.
Chip LaMarca, of Lighthouse Point, represents District 100 in the Florida House of Representatives. He is a member of the Florida First Resilience and Energy Alliance. This opinion piece was originally published by the Sun Sentinel, which is a media partner of The Invading Sea. Banner photo: A power plant releasing emissions in China (iStock image).
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