Scaramucci mocks draft of Trump trade bill as ‘FART Act’

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Monday criticized President Trump’s Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act, mocking it as the “FART Act” and saying the legislation “stinks.” 

“WTO has its flaws, but the ‘United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act,’ aka the U.S. FART Act, stinks. American consumers pay for tariffs,” Scaramucci said. “Time to switch tactics.”

WTO has its flaws, but the “United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act,” aka the U.S. FART Act, stinks. American consumers pay for tariffs. Time to switch tactics. https://t.co/OfyOFA1neU

— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 2, 2018

His comments come a day after Axios published a leaked copy of a trade bill that would have the U.S. break with World Trade Organization rules. 

Axios reports that under the bill the U.S. would elect to abandon the “most favored nation” principle, which says countries are not allowed to set different tariff rates for different countries outside of free trade agreements.

Trump was briefed on the drafted bill in May, according to the report. 

“It is no secret that POTUS has had frustrations with the unfair imbalance of tariffs that put the U.S. at a disadvantage. He has asked his team to develop ideas to remedy this situation and create incentives for countries to lower their tariffs. The current system gives the U.S. no leverage and other countries no incentive,” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters told Axios

Scaramucci’s comments come just days after he said that Trump’s trade wars may be going too far.

On Sunday, Canada retaliated against Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs by imposing tariffs on about $13 billion worth of U.S. exports.