Trump’s ‘Fart Act’ raises a stink

Trump aims to 'blow up the WTO' with his Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act, while Twitter has noticed the proposed bill has a rather unfortunate acronym.


A leaked early draft of the United States Fair and Reciprocal Act, reportedly ordered by Donald Trump, details how the US plans to abandon fundamental World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

If adopted the bill would dramatically affect world trade but it is the bill’s acronym, the Fart Act, that has grabbed the attention of the Twitterati for now.

Trump has been highly critical of the WTO since his presidential campaign, and claimed it was designed by the rest of the world “to screw the United States”.

If passed as is, the Fart Act would give the president the power to raises tariffs without congressional consent and to sidestep international rules.

READ MORE: Comedian prank calls Donald Trump

The early draft of the legislation was leaked to the Axios news agency and their report Sunday predicted  “Trump’s bill will blow up the WTO.”

But treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin says it is wrong and an exaggeration that Trump wants out of the organisation.

He does, however, think aspects of the current dispensation disadvantage the US and would like to see changes.

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