Are Trump’s Tariffs Really Shambolic?

[ndrosen]

I thought that Trump’s rollout of higher tariffs, and then more or less cancellation when the stock market fell, was just a matter of his general incompetence and failure to understand economics. In general, it may be that we should not attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity, but at least sometimes, there is an evil scheme behind what appears to be mere bungling.

The other day, I received an email from Senator Chris Murphy, with a column he had co-authored in the Financial Times, making the case that unpredictably changing tariffs actually serve the current Administration’s purposes. Tim Cook made a million dollar donation to Trump’s inaugural committee, and Apple has stayed in the Trump Administration’s good graces. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (my great-great-grandboss) announced that Apple would be exempt from “reciprocal” tariffs on smartphones, servers, memory chips, and some other products from China.

Trump may be smart enough to understand the art of the extortion, and surely some of his myrmidons are. If the president can impose tariffs (which he does not have the constitutional or statutory authority to do), and then fiddle with them at will, adjusting rates and granting or canceling exemptions, then American businesses can be compelled to truckle to him, paying bakhsheesh, not aiding the opposition or hiring people whom the Mango Mussolini has blacklisted, and so forth. That, to paraphrase, is Senator Murphy’s view, and it makes sense.

This is reason why no president can be trusted with too much power, and in particular, why the current gang of scoundrels must not be allowed to exceed its legal authority.

Comments

[thewayne]

He can apply tariffs for two reasons. First, he has "declared an emergency" which gives him some ability to do so. Dems have filed bills to strip this ability as it should sit in the hands of Congress, but of course there's pretty much zero chance of those bills passing, much less with a 2/3rds veto-proof margin. Second, because Reps control Congress and they're completely kowtowing to him, they're doing zero to exert any brakes as a co-equal branch of government, as they should be doing.

[ndrosen]

There is law authorizing the president to impose economic sanctions in the event of an emergency, but, at least as I understand it, this act does not mention tariffs; furthermore, the existence of trade deficits with some countries is a long-term condition, not an emergency. Therefore, dishonest Donald’s actions are at least very probably unlawful, leaving aside the question of whether he can be stopped, and by whom.

[thewayne]

I think the tariff capability depends on which emergency act he invokes, he's invoked several different specific ones.