Unsexy Tariffs Matter
I know tariffs aren’t a sexy topic, but they matter, now more than ever—for commerce, for our household budgets, for the stability of international relations, and for our constitutional order.
Over the years, Congress largely delegated its authority to the executive branch. The following two pieces offer insight on this authority. The second also underlines the destabilizing effect this power can have on the international system. Americans need to increase their awareness of what tariffs do. Those who care little about checks on the president’s power or about international relations should should still care about their household budgets, which are going to be paying the bill.
- “Making Tariffs Great Again: Does President Trump Have Legal Authority to Implement New Tariffs on U.S. Trading Partners and China?” by Warren Maruyama, Lyric Galvin, and William Alan Reinsch, Center for Strategic & International Studies, October 10, 2024.
- “Trump could impose tariffs on day one, with few checks on that power” by Adam Looney and Elena Patel, Brookings Institute, January 15, 2025.
The problem of unchecked presidential power is particularly accute at this moment, as the president attacks critical government institutions and capabilities while flouting Congressional oversight and its power of the purse. Given moves against the treasury last week, the president’s latest tariff announcements require strong pushback. The president loves tariffs. We need to make the topic of tariffs sexy again in order to fight back.
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