A report that Donald Trump is looking to walk away from the World Trade Organisation and instead adopt a United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act, or Fart Act, has been greeted with loud amusement on Twitter.
Axios reported that it had received a leaked early draft of a bill ordered by the president, that would see America take the unlikely step of abandoning WTO rules, allowing Trump to raise tariffs without the consent of Congress.
The bill – the existence of which has not been independently confirmed – would be a dramatic shift in trade policy with wide-reaching impacts, but it was the name of the proposed bill that caught people’s attention.
pass the US FART Act I don’t care what you have to do
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) July 2, 2018
BREAKING: Wind. #FartAct
— The Gaf (@thegaf) July 2, 2018
There were debates about whether the name of the act was intentional, while internet users responded with jokes, memes and even poetry.
excited for the fart act gamble to go wrong and leave skid marks in congress
— Kilgore Trout (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 2, 2018
i’m trying to pass a fart act over here too if you know what i’m saying https://t.co/BPjtMjpvZx
— LB classic [balmy]: (@LydiaBurrell) July 2, 2018
The POTUS would like, for a start,
— Limericking (@Limericking) July 2, 2018
More power to rip trade apart,
Reported the press
Upon its success
In catching a draft of his FART.
Don Moynihan, a professor of government at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, noted that Trump might struggle to get the world to take his policies seriously given the naming snafu. He wrote on Twitter: “‘The world is laughing at us,’ says Trump, before proposing the FART Act (Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act).”
Journalists delighted in the name, while others suggested it could be a subtle act of rebellion from a disillusioned staff member.
As an editor who writes some headlines at the NY Post can I just say I’m really psyched about the FART Act
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) July 2, 2018
Did they name it the “FART Act” to troll the president? https://t.co/kqTqzlOD0X
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) July 2, 2018
The naming of the FART Act has convinced me that Deep State subversion is real. And pretty awesome.
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) July 2, 2018
One of the few engaging with the substance of the bill, and not just its packaging, was Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci, Trump’s short-lived former director of communications, who said that asking American consumers to pay for tariffs “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. Time to switch tactics. https://t.co/OfyOFA1neU
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 2, 2018
