Sen. Josh Hawley plans to introduce legislation that would set an 18% cap on credit card interest rates, according to a report.

The Republican denounced soaring interest rates — which hit an average above 24% in September, according to Investopedia — as credit card debt levels surpassed $1 trillion.

“Americans are being crushed under the weight of record credit card debt,” the Missouri Republican told the news site RealClearPolitics.

The Missouri senator said it was time for the government to serve “working people” just as it came to the aid of faltering banks earlier this year, including Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York.

“The government was quick to bail out the banks just this spring, but has ignored working people struggling to get ahead,” Hawley told RealClearPolitics.

Hawley said that capping credit card rates was a “fair” and “common-sense” way to give “the working class a chance.”

The annual percentage rate (APR) is the amount of interest credit cardholders pay annually.

APR is determined by the credit card issuer, which examines a customer’s credit score.

In the United States, banks and credit unions issue credit cards.

Chase, American Express, Citigroup, Capital One, and Bank of America are among the largest issuers of credit cards in the country.

The Post has sought comment from the American Bankers Association, the lobby representing the nation’s lenders.

Hawley’s proposal closely mirrors those which have been proposed by progressive lawmakers including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

In 2019, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders introduced the Loan Shark Prevention Act which sought to cap credit card APR at 15%.

The bill never made it to the floor.

In comments to RealClearPolitics, Hawley pushed back on criticism that his proposal was to the left of those proposed by Democrats, including President Joe Biden.

“We have a long history in this country of statutes, at the state and a federal level, that prevent what we used to call usury – an old-fashioned word for ripping off working people, and we need to get back to it,” Hawley said.

The senator took aim at credit card issuers, telling RealClearPolitics: “We know what they’re doing.”

“They’re out there actively encouraging and finding new ways to get consumers indebted — they hike rates, and they can make a killing on it,” Hawley said.

“Who does this hurt? Working people.”

Last week, Equifax, the credit agency, reported that low- and middle-income Americans who are struggling under the burden of sky-high inflation are defaulting on their credit cards and car loans.

This year, credit card delinquencies have hit 3.8%, while 3.6% have defaulted on their car loans, according to a study by Moody’s.

Both figures are the highest in more than 10 years.