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Tariffs – Can Trump be Stopped?
There are two ways. Congress actually delegated this power to raise tariffs to the president in an emergency. Congress could take it back. Of course Trump could veto any such legislation. But a vote of 2/3s of each house of Congress could override that veto.
Some Republicans are starting to squeal, so maybe that’s not all that unreasonable a possibility.
Another possibility is that the courts step in. Congress isn’t really supposed to delegate its powers. During the FDR administration, the supremes ruled a lot of New Deal laws unconstitutional based on that. Then FDR proposed his court-packing scheme, which was shouted down.
But the justices lost their nerves, and stopped ruling New Deal legislation unconstitutional, including legislation delegating powers to his alphabet agencies.
Since then, the Court hasn’t gone back to ruling on legislation on the implied non-delegation part of the Constitution.
Maybe it’s time for them to resume this, but I’m not holding my breath.
Published in General
The Supremes have been ruling against Congressional delegation of powers to the executive a LOT in the last few years [overturning Chevron deference, West Virginia vs EPA, etc]. And there are a couple more open cases that should be decided by the end of this term.
Relevant: NCLA Files Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s IEEPA Tariffs Against China.
What check is in place to keep Trump from using the possibility of favorable tariff rates to extort personal benefit for himself and family?
Impeachment? I doubt it.
Justice department? Laughable.
SCOTUS has already sent him the message that he is untouchable as President. Whether that was the intended message, it was the received message.
I wholly concede my “NeverTrump” bias, but that doesn’t answer above question of what check is available to the thoroughly corrupt tool of ultimate tariff authority?
That’s a marginal argument.
Chevron Deference, originally argued by the Reagan Justice Department, and adopted by the courts was to stop environmentalists from forcing the EPA, through the courts, to enforce laws that were mandated by Congress. The idea was that if a conservative administration came into power, they could choose not to enforce a statute based on their interpretation of that law with the the courts deferring to the executive. Because Republicans play checkers and Democrats play chess, the Democrats used Chevron Deference to interpret statute liberally and accrue more executive power when they had the presidency. Ending Chevron Deference only means that the courts now take a more active role in interpreting statute that delegates powers to the executive, it doesn’t end actual delegation.
Court rulings on the EPA have also been based on what powers were delegated by statute, not on the constitutionality of the statute itself regarding non-delegation.
We don’t know that. The administration is sending mixed messages, with some saying the tariffs are not negotiable and others hinting they are.
I hope you’re right. And if you are, I’m ok with Trump’s theatrics, but not thrilled.
I’m listening to an Editor’s Podcast (National Review) and Charlie Cooke pointed out that Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were urging Biden to declare a climate emergency similar to Trump’s economic emergency, and basically use it to promote their own agenda to socialize the economy.
Part of the problem is that Congress is hobbled by the Senate filibuster. I’ve gone back and forth on being in favor or against it over the years. But if Congress is to take power back, one of the prerequisites would be to make it easier to pass legislation.
We depend too much on the courts to act as a brake.
yes. impeachment. The Biden crime family was clearly monetizing his office, but Congress did nothing. Probably because they were too busy monetizing their offices.
This seems like it has been settled for a long time now. The president owns international relations.
I suspect that as this unfolds and the economy gets weaker and weaker, and as international relations with long-time allies break down, Congress will eventually take the reins and put a stop to this nonsense. But by that time the republican brand will have been crippled and a democrat tsunami will win back Congress in 2026.
It doesn’t include tariffs. Constitutionally, Congress owns that.
Trump’s Tariffs are based on emergency powers. An emergency is a situation that happens suddenly with an immediate threat that requires an immediate response. Something that has been happening for years is a chronic problem. Nothing has changed suddenly; if there is a problem, it is chronic, not an acute emergency. Trump’s tariffs are an abuse of the statute, in the absence of an emergency he has no authority to do this.
Except for declaring war, approving treaties, confirming ambassadors, oversight of the State Department, etc., and funding everything, you’re spot on!
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including section 203 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702) (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), and 22 U.S.C. 287c,
I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, find that the unrestricted access of foreign parties to United States commercial goods, technology, and technical data and the existence of certain boycott practices of foreign nations constitute, in light of the expiration of the Export Administration Act of 1979, an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States and hereby declare a national economic emergency to deal with that threat. …”
Link: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_12444
Six months later, Reagan extended it: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_12470
Moving on to Bush41, six years later:
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited to section 203 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S. C. 1702) (hereafter referred to as ‘‘the Act’’),
I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, find that the unrestricted access of foreign parties to U.S. goods, technology, and technical data and the existence of certain boycott practices of foreign nations, in light of the expiration of the Export Administration Act of 1979, constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and hereby declare a national emergency with respect to that threat. …”
Link: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_12730
Moving on to Bush43:
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited to section 203 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“Act”) (50 U.S.C. 1702), I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, find that the unrestricted access of foreign parties to U.S. goods and technology and the existence of certain boycott practices of foreign nations, in light of the expiration of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2401 et seq), constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and hereby declare a national emergency with respect to that threat.
Accordingly, in order (a) to exercise the necessary vigilance over exports and activities affecting the national security of the United States; (b) to further significantly the foreign policy of the United States, including its policy with respect to cooperation by U.S. persons with certain foreign boycott activities, and to fulfill its international responsibilities; and (c) to protect the domestic economy from the excessive drain of scarce materials and reduce the serious economic impact of foreign demand, it is hereby ordered as follows: …”
Link: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13222
Let’s kindly spare us this nonsense about Trump’s statute-abusing ways, shall we?
No, let’s just condemn all presidents who use fictitious emergencies as a pretext to circumvent Congress. That’s far easier.
Heaven forbid we let loosing millions of American jobs and national security stand between you and cheap jeans and sneakers.
Why should he be stopped?
This post and many of the comments make me laugh when I recall the debates we had during Trump’s first term about “free trade”. Many here still don’t know what free trade is.
Don’t know if this tariff business is a good idea or a bad one, but it’s something different.
The “way things have always been done” has led us to a lot of rich politicians, a broke middle class, no manufacturing left in America, and us being $35 TRILLION in debt. So eat me.
Trump may not be pretty, but he gets business. Made himself a billionaire in a tough business. And he loves America.
I say get out of his way and give him a chance. Why not put your usual carping aside and get behind him in this? Let the rest of the world see a United America. Why is this worse than all the bickering?
It’s bizarre that the orange imbecile and his supporters believe that America’s economy and our future happiness depend on us creating “millions” of jobs making low-tech, low-margin products like jeans, sneakers, toasters, and plastic shoes for toddlers instead buying them cheaper from foreigners and saving money in the process. But then I remember that the OI is against automation in the docks and all is explained.
Oh, I dunno, just look around you.
This is a fantasy. The Federal Reserve’s index of industrial production covering manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities is as high today as it’s ever been. The US is No. 2 in the world manufacturing stakes. No manufacturing my derrière.
You are the imbecile if you believe these are the jobs we will be bringing back.
Losing American jobs? We are at an all-time unemployment low combined with an excess of jobs. Employers can’t find enough people to fill all the job vacancies. Now Trump wants to upset this ideal situation.
You just perpetrated two of the biggest myths in politics.
The middle-class has been shrinking in America because so many people have moved into the upper middle-class and rich categories.
https://moneywithkatie.com/blog/is-the-middle-class-shrinking-because-people-are-getting-richer
The manufacturing myth is even bigger. U.S. manufacturing output has more than doubled in the past 40 years, leaving all the other manufacturing powerhouses in the dust, as most of them have been stagnant, with the exception of China. In the special case of China, they have improved just as quickly as us, and caught up to our level of production a few years ago. However, that is only because their population is four-and-a-half times larger than ours. Our per capita manufacturing then, is four-and-a-half times larger than theirs. If not for their sheer size, China would be considered a third-world country based on their manufacturing output.
If this is the “way things have always been done,” I’ll take it!
This is a really great description of what happened last week with the tariff situation and the Trump administration:
Larry Kudlow: The era of high tariffs and low wages is coming to an end
If you want free trade, then you should be happy about the Trump administration’s changes. Vietnam will lower their tariffs to us, and we’ll lower ours to them. That should be what the Republicans are looking for.
Furthermore, the loss of manufacturing facilities, companies, and jobs has been incredible over the last decade. To many people including me, that’s a national security issue. Not to mention a supply chain problem, as we saw during the pandemic. Stimulating the manufacturing sector is a good thing for many reasons. It’s kinda nice being able to take care of yourself and not be dependent on others.
Politics is really brutal. I think this is the end of the Trump presidency–that is, his ability to influence even his own party. I don’t think people are listening anymore.
I admired GW a lot. He was so rational compared to Clinton, and I shared his perspective on most issues. But I saw the same phenomenon I’m seeing now. People just stop listening.
But no comment about the $35 trillion? Whatever we have been doing, it is heading us for a financial catastrophe. Somebody has to do something DIFFERENT!
Maybe this isn’t it, but you and nobody else is suggesting anything better. Tell us what you think would be a better plan?
But those are exactly the kind of jobs everybody has been complaining about losing! What kind of jobs did you think were going overseas?
I guess they liked what the Democrat candidate for POTUS. She wouldn’t do anything different from what Biden had done during his term in office.
Chips , autos, energy, and appliances come to mind and don’t forget we must fix our education system and banking and financial systems to fill the job opportunities that exists today but do not have qualified applicants. We apparently have a lot of jobs in education currently filled by teachers and administrators with our students not learning much.
Our $35 Trillion in debt has absolutely nothing to do with our trade with foreign nations!! It is due to greedy citizens and reckless politicians spending money they don’t have. It has not a thing to do with trade. On the contrary, favorable trade has been a boon to help offset the miserable debt we have been accumulating. Without it, we would be even worse-off regarding the debt..