The Supreme Court and Trump's Tariff Legality

President Donald Trump claims that the United States will be rendered “defenseless’’ and possibly “reduced to almost Third World status” if the Supreme Court strikes down the tariffs he has imposed, basically on every country in existence. This is yet another Trumpism, facts twisted to the extent of just being plain stupid. We weren’t defenseless prior to his tariff circus, and barring extreme circumstances, we won’t be in the future without said tariffs.

The U.S. Constitution specifically gives the power to tax and impose tariffs to the Congress. However, Congress has shirked its duty and delegated some of that authority via various statutes, though it limited the ways the president could use such authority. One of them is the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Another is Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits the United States to carry a big stick against countries it accuses of engaging in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices – three terms that are highly ambiguous.

At the latest hearing, lawyer Neal Katyal, representing small businesses suing to get the tariffs struck down, argued Trump didn’t need the boundless authority he’s recently claimed to impose tariffs. They state Congress had already delegated tariff power to the White House in the aforementioned statutes. I’m confused! If they are admitting the White House already had tariff powers, isn’t that a contradiction to them suing in opposition to the most recent tariffs?

The Trade Act of 1974 seems to be the big issue. As a cornerstone of Trump’s foreign policy, he has imposed double-digit “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries by associating long-standing trade deficits to being a national emergency. To some extent, I would agree. However, just how can a trade deficit be a national emergency?

Any dependence on a foreign country to provide necessary products which we aren’t providing ourselves could be considered a national emergency – depending on the product. Semiconductors are an extremely important product. The world runs on them. The U.S. should be making far more of its own. The shortage of them during Covid-19 provided a hint to what could happen should the foreign supply sharply dwindle or be cut off – say via a Chinese attack on Taiwan.

On the other hand, the U.S. isn’t going into an economic collapse should bananas or coconuts no longer be available. Yes, some food-related industries may suffer, but it certainly wouldn’t be a national disaster. In my opinion, most of Trump’s tariffs fall into the latter category of NOT being a national emergency. Hence, I do not support the majority of his tariff circus since there seems to be no consistency or logic in them.

Sadly, no matter how the Supreme Court rules, Trump will still have plenty of options to keep taxing imports, and do so aggressively. According to Georgetown trade law professor, Kathleen Claussen, “It’s hard to see any pathway here where tariffs end. I am pretty convinced he could rebuild the tariff landscape he has now using other authorities.”

Thank you, Congress, for shirking your constitutional authority and handing it over to the President. Yes, that was sarcasm!

Source used: Associated Press