 As the deficit increased through the 1980s, some of the blame fell on the tariffs placed on American products by foreign countries, and the lack of similar tariffs on imports into the United States.Workers, unions and industry management all called for government action against countries with an unfair advantage.The Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act started as an amendment proposed by Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO) to order the Executive branch to thoroughly examine trade with countries that have large trade surpluses with the United States.