Erik Cason would be proud
https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqs9tlrx5t60qfpjtuenelznwjnssaxkk3ntv30aanlaq8ze4vaq20cuz7gj5
Trump’s tariffs were imposed under a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which allows the president to regulate imports if he declares a national emergency. [1] The IEEPA had never been used to impose tariffs before Trump used it in February to impose tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico; he also used it on “Liberation Day” last week to impose much broader tariffs.
OK, every tariff or trade obstacle ever invoked is exceptional, and an "unusual extraordinary threat," says Mr. Trump. Levine not thrilled:
It is also a strange way to use law. The US is in a perpetual state of emergency with respect to every country forever, allowing the president to use emergency powers to bypass the Constitution to impose tariffs.
Trying the tariff power as wielded by the current president in the courts seems like fun, if not taking too long to prevent most/much of the damage
The complaint was filed after Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs were announced, but I suppose it was written earlier. That last paragraph turned out to be a good prediction: Trump really did “declare a national emergency based on some long-running national problem, then impose tariffs purportedly in the name of that emergency.” And it is a live question whether courts will let him.
I guess there's some silver lining/grand irony in all of this: conservative legal doctrine leaning toward removing the executive-delegated power of a ruffle-the-feathers, conservative-ish president.
Bring out the popcorn.
non-paywalled here: https://newsletterhunt.com/emails/182848
