Washington, DC—In response to news that Senators Josh Hawley and Bernie Sanders have introduced a bipartisan bill to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent—fulfilling a campaign pledge made by President Trump—the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“Capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent is a simple, common-sense proposal that will bring down the cost of living for millions of Americans,” said Morgan Harper, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “For too long, big banks have ripped off Americans relying on short-term credit to make ends meet, simply because they can. Current average rates are at an all-time high of nearly 30 percent—far beyond what is necessary for banks to profitably issue credit cards—unfairly trapping families under snowballing debt burdens. President Trump called for a hard cap on these predatory rates on the campaign trail. Now that a solution is on the table, the White House must throw its weight behind it.”

The Hawley-Sanders bill, an amendment to the 1968 Truth in Lending Act, was introduced on Tuesday. The bill comes as Americans hold a record $1.7 trillion in credit card debt—and after credit card companies generated $130 billion in interest and fees in 2022. Hawley and Sanders have each independently proposed legislation to cap credit card interest rates in the past.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.