Court Rules Trump's Tariffs Illegal
A US appeals court ruled that Trump's tariffs are unconstitutional because the president wasn't legally allowed to declare a national emergency and impose tariffs.
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Donald Trump’s power to impose tariffs has always been legally dubious. It has been a failing of the media that Americans haven’t been reminded daily that this president is trying to expand his power without the clear legal authority to do so.
The courts have been working their way through Trump’s abuse of power, and after Trump lost the first tariff ruling, the US appeals court has weighed in, and the Associated Press reported:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Trump wasn’t legally allowed to declare national emergencies and impose import taxes on almost every country on earth, largely upholding a May decision by a specialized federal trade court in New York.
But the court’s 7-4 decision tossed out a part of that ruling striking down the tariffs immediately, allowing his administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
…
The plaintiffs argue that the emergency power law does not authorize the use of tariffs.
They also note that the trade deficit hardly meets the definition of an “unusual and extraordinary’’ threat that would justify declaring an emergency under the law. The United States, after all, has run trade deficits — in which it buys more from foreign countries than it sells them — for 49 straight years and in good times and bad.
Donald Trump’s tariffs are headed to the Supreme Court. If this Supreme Court majority were legitimate and trustworthy, this would be a slam dunk decision. A president does not have the legal authority to declare a fake national emergency and impose tariffs.
The piece to this puzzle that has yet to be thoroughly examined is the executive authority to declare a national emergency. Trump has pushed the emergency authority power beyond what is legally allowable multiple times in his first and so far in his second term.
At some point, for the sake of democracy, Trump’s aggressive expansion of executive power must be checked.
The tariff issue would be the perfect place to start.
What do you think of the appeals court ruling? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
It's one of those once or twice a week instances lately of hearing some actual legal pushback about one of trump's many illegal policy acts. It's such a slow trickle, in dribs and drabs, against a firehose of daily constitutional and regulatory law-breaking. It perks us up briefly, until we read the fine print - always postponing enforcement for a couple more months, for yet another appeals court. And as Jason (forgive me if it wasn't) pointed out, it will end up in the corrupt Supreme Court, led by trump henchmen Clarence and Sammy and the ever-ready -to- rubber-stamp Gorsuch. So, meanwhile trump just goes on his merry way, casting illegal tariffs at random to whatever country pops into his head, forcing companies to let his government take a percentage of their ownership in order to conduct business, extorting tribute from other companies in order to export their products, and lining his own pockets the entire time.
Be still my beating heart!!!!