Sens. Doug Jones and Lamar Alexander are planning to introduce a bill next week to halt President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on European automakers like Mercedes-Benz. | Michele Tantussi/Getty Images New bipartisan push launched to freeze Trump tariffs

Sens. Doug Jones and Lamar Alexander are planning to introduce a bill next week to halt President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on European automakers, hoping to shield the automotive industries in the South from more economic blowback from U.S. allies.

The Alabama Democrat and Tennessee Republican said on Wednesday they are working on legislation with support from senators in both parties aimed at preventing the president from imposing unilateral tariffs on foreign automakers.


Alabama and Tennessee have large automotive factories that build cars and trucks for European, Asian and domestic manufacturers, and senators from auto-producing states say Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs on Europe, Mexico and Canada are already harming those industries.

Now they worry things are about to get worse with the Trump administration's threatened tariffs on imported autos and auto parts.

"The president's proposed auto tariffs have the potential to inflict serious damage on a booming industry in my state and other leading auto-producing states like Tennessee," Jones said.

The two senators are still working on the legislation, but the draft legislation would freeze the Commerce Department's investigation on imported autos and auto parts and whether to impose national security tariffs while the International Trade Commission studies the auto industry, according to a person familiar with the bill. After the ITC study is completed, the president could then decide to continue the investigation and then impose the tariffs.

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“I realize that folks affected by these proposed tariffs are looking for a silver bullet to stop them dead in their tracks,” Jones added. “Right now, the only silver bullet in this case is for the president to change his mind.”

On Wednesday, Alexander praised Trump for helping foster economic growth in the United States but said the president needs to "drop the tariffs."

"These tariffs are dangerous, these tariffs are going to cost us jobs, these tariffs are going to lower our family incomes. These tariffs are going to undo much of the good that the president and this Congress have done during the last year and a half to create this booming economy," Alexander said.

House and Senate GOP leaders are similarly concerned about Trump’s protectionist policies undermining the economy in an election year but have yet to endorse legislation that could tie the president's hands.

Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) have a bill that would require Congress to approve new tariffs imposed on national security grounds, but it has yet to receive a vote. The Senate passed a resolution, 88-11, this month to rebuke the president's tariff regime, though it is non-binding.