Look at the remarkable uses to which President Donald Trump has put his apparently unbridled power to impose tariffs.<\/p>\n
Six months ago, Trump said that he would impose tariffs on Canada for failure to control the supposed flow of fentanyl from Canada into the United States.<\/p>\n
I guess that problem is now solved, but another one popped up: Trump just announced that Canada\u2019s recent proposal to recognize a Palestinian state would make it \u201cvery hard<\/a>\u201d to reach a trade agreement.<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s not alone in this regard.<\/p>\n Back in January, Colombia said that it wouldn\u2019t\u00a0accept flights<\/a>\u00a0of deported migrants flown on military planes. Trump, in turn, said that he\u2019d impose a 25% tariff on Colombia, rising to 50% after a week.\u00a0Colombia agreed to accept the flights.<\/p>\n India says that it will import oil from Russia. Trump says that he\u2019ll hit India with tariffs.<\/p>\n Russia hasn\u2019t agreed to peace in Ukraine. Trump says that, if Russia\u2019s obstinance continues, he\u2019ll impose tariffs.<\/p>\n Prosecutors in Brazil are pursuing Jair Bolsonaro for having had his supporters storm government buildings and having\u00a0called for a coup<\/a>.\u00a0Trump likes guys who have their supporters storm government buildings and try to engage in a coup; Trump\u2019s\u00a0added 40%<\/a>\u00a0(to the existing 10%) tariff on Brazil expressly because Brazil\u2019s prosecuting Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t pretend to be knowledgeable about the laws governing American international trade. Generally, I thought that tariffs were supposed to be set by Congress, with exceptions permitting the president to intervene only to protect against import surges, to preserve industries essential to national security, to prevent unfair foreign practices, and arguably to mitigate economic emergencies.<\/p>\n I understand that Trump can say that Brazil prosecuting Bolsonaro falls into one of those categories, but I don\u2019t understand why any sentient person would think that was true.<\/p>\n If Trump really has the power to impose tariffs for anything \u2014 Canada\u2019s recognition of Palestine; India\u2019s decision to import oil from Russia; Brazil\u2019s decision to prosecute Bolsonaro \u2014 where does that power stop?<\/p>\n Trump is asserting the power to interfere both in other countries\u2019 foreign policy decisions and their domestic affairs.\u00a0Doesn\u2019t that seem a little expansive?<\/p>\n Trump has said he wants Canada to become the 51st American state.\u00a0Could Canada\u2019s unwillingness to acquiesce become yet another stumbling block to trade?\u00a0Could we pick up Iceland and the Panama Canal simply by imposing crippling tariffs on the relevant countries?<\/p>\n What if Qatar were to renege on its offer to give Trump a used Boeing 747?\u00a0Impose tariffs until Qatar turns over the plane?<\/p>\n What if, for instance, Serbia says that it won\u2019t change its zoning laws to permit the building of a Trump Tower in Belgrade?\u00a0A billion percent tariffs until the bastards comply?<\/p>\n This is no way to run a country.\u00a0It\u2019s remarkably silly and more than a little bit dangerous.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not intimately familiar with the legal issues, but last Thursday, the parties\u00a0argued a case<\/a>\u00a0before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit challenging Trump\u2019s unrestrained ability to impose tariffs for damned near anything.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Watch that case closely for two reasons.\u00a0First, hope that the courts will once again come to America\u2019s rescue, limiting the power of Trump, and future presidents, to do whatever comes into their heads.\u00a0Second, watch the stock markets.\u00a0Some people will make a killing by acting quickly if the court decides to restrict Trump\u2019s unilateral tariff power.<\/p>\n Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Litigating The President\u2019s Ability To Impose Tariffs<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Look at the remarkable uses to which President Donald Trump has put his apparently unbridled power to impose tariffs.<\/p>\n Six months ago, Trump said that he would impose tariffs on Canada for failure to control the supposed flow of fentanyl from Canada into the United States.<\/p>\n I guess that problem is now solved, but another one popped up: Trump just announced that Canada\u2019s recent proposal to recognize a Palestinian state would make it \u201cvery hard<\/a>\u201d to reach a trade agreement.<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s not alone in this regard.<\/p>\n Back in January, Colombia said that it wouldn\u2019t\u00a0accept flights<\/a>\u00a0of deported migrants flown on military planes. Trump, in turn, said that he\u2019d impose a 25% tariff on Colombia, rising to 50% after a week.\u00a0Colombia agreed to accept the flights.<\/p>\n India says that it will import oil from Russia. Trump says that he\u2019ll hit India with tariffs.<\/p>\n Russia hasn\u2019t agreed to peace in Ukraine. Trump says that, if Russia\u2019s obstinance continues, he\u2019ll impose tariffs.<\/p>\n Prosecutors in Brazil are pursuing Jair Bolsonaro for having had his supporters storm government buildings and having\u00a0called for a coup<\/a>.\u00a0Trump likes guys who have their supporters storm government buildings and try to engage in a coup; Trump\u2019s\u00a0added 40%<\/a>\u00a0(to the existing 10%) tariff on Brazil expressly because Brazil\u2019s prosecuting Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t pretend to be knowledgeable about the laws governing American international trade. Generally, I thought that tariffs were supposed to be set by Congress, with exceptions permitting the president to intervene only to protect against import surges, to preserve industries essential to national security, to prevent unfair foreign practices, and arguably to mitigate economic emergencies.<\/p>\n I understand that Trump can say that Brazil prosecuting Bolsonaro falls into one of those categories, but I don\u2019t understand why any sentient person would think that was true.<\/p>\n If Trump really has the power to impose tariffs for anything \u2014 Canada\u2019s recognition of Palestine; India\u2019s decision to import oil from Russia; Brazil\u2019s decision to prosecute Bolsonaro \u2014 where does that power stop?<\/p>\n Trump is asserting the power to interfere both in other countries\u2019 foreign policy decisions and their domestic affairs.\u00a0Doesn\u2019t that seem a little expansive?<\/p>\n Trump has said he wants Canada to become the 51st American state.\u00a0Could Canada\u2019s unwillingness to acquiesce become yet another stumbling block to trade?\u00a0Could we pick up Iceland and the Panama Canal simply by imposing crippling tariffs on the relevant countries?<\/p>\n What if Qatar were to renege on its offer to give Trump a used Boeing 747?\u00a0Impose tariffs until Qatar turns over the plane?<\/p>\n What if, for instance, Serbia says that it won\u2019t change its zoning laws to permit the building of a Trump Tower in Belgrade?\u00a0A billion percent tariffs until the bastards comply?<\/p>\n This is no way to run a country.\u00a0It\u2019s remarkably silly and more than a little bit dangerous.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not intimately familiar with the legal issues, but last Thursday, the parties\u00a0argued a case<\/a>\u00a0before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit challenging Trump\u2019s unrestrained ability to impose tariffs for damned near anything.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Watch that case closely for two reasons.\u00a0First, hope that the courts will once again come to America\u2019s rescue, limiting the power of Trump, and future presidents, to do whatever comes into their heads.\u00a0Second, watch the stock markets.\u00a0Some people will make a killing by acting quickly if the court decides to restrict Trump\u2019s unilateral tariff power.<\/p>\n Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Litigating The President\u2019s Ability To Impose Tariffs<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Look at the remarkable uses to which President Donald Trump has put his apparently unbridled power to impose tariffs. Six months ago, Trump said that he would impose tariffs on Canada for failure to control the supposed flow of fentanyl from Canada into the United States. I guess that problem is now solved, but another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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