# How does the president have the authority to impose tariffs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 15, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282 "2019-09-15T19:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/1 "2019-09-15T19:52:21Z")
Isn’t tax policy Congressional business? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/2 "2019-09-15T20:16:23Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/3 "2019-09-15T20:24:31Z")
He doesn’t. His party is terrified of his base and wouldn’t stand up to him no matter what he does. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/4 "2019-09-15T20:25:23Z")
Trump has claimed the authority to impose tariffs under various laws passed by Congress, usually many years ago. See [The Legal Authority Behind Trump’s New Tariffs on Mexico](https://www.lawfareblog.com/legal-authority-behind-trumps-new-tariffs-mexico) (from the _Lawfare_ blog back in June) and [Where Trump’s ‘emergency power’ on foreign business comes from](https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/31/politics/mexico-tariffs-emergency-powers-act/index.html) (originally from CNN from this May, updated last month). Specific laws include the [International Emergency Economic Powers Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Emergency_Economic_Powers_Act) (which was passed during the Carter Administration), along with previous trade laws passed in 1962 and 1974. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/5 "2019-09-15T20:33:03Z")
> [@kirkrapine](#): > > Isn’t tax policy Congressional business? It is. Congress has enacted laws which give the President the discretionary power to impose tariffs. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/6 "2019-09-15T20:40:14Z")
Congress appears to have decided that the cooperation needed to legislate is simply too difficult so they have delegated their responsibility to the president and courts. This gives them more time to raise funds for their next election. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/7 "2019-09-15T20:53:43Z")
From [Wikipedia:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_tariffs) > [@](#): > > Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution: “Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” But Congress has repeatedly shifted its powers regarding tariffs to the president.[ Beginning in 1917 with the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 the president can impose any tariff while the nation is at war. The affected trade does not have to be connected to the ongoing war. Since 1974 the Trade Act of 1974 allows the president to impose a 15% tariff for 150 days if there is “an adverse impact on national security from imports.” After 150 days the tariff expires unless extended by Congress. In 1977 the International Emergency Economic Powers Act shifted powers even more towards the White House. The Trump administration claims that it gives the President the authority to raise tariffs without any limits during a national emergency of any kind. Legal scholars disagree because the IEEPA does not mention tariffs at all and transfers no authority of tariffs towards the President What is the national emergency? What is the adverse affect on national security from imports? ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/8 "2019-09-15T20:59:02Z")
He says Article 2 authorizes him to do anything he wants. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/9 "2019-09-15T21:43:18Z")
> [@kirkrapine](#): > > He says Article 2 authorizes him to do anything he wants. That’s not an actual quote, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/10 "2019-09-15T21:48:00Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > That’s not an actual quote, is it? I’d say it’s an [accurate paraphrase](https://thinkprogress.org/trump-believes-the-constitution-gives-him-the-right-to-do-whatever-i-want-as-president-4018da3ed988/). > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump was candid about the unlimited power he believes he has during a speech at the Turning Point USA Teen Student Action Summit on Tuesday. > > After reasserting that investigations into Russia’s election meddling found “no collusion,” Trump claimed, “Then I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.” ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/11 "2019-09-15T22:18:19Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Congress appears to have decided that the cooperation needed to legislate is simply too difficult so they have delegated their responsibility to the president and courts. > > This gives them more time to raise funds for their next election. Sad but true. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/12 "2019-09-16T04:31:59Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Congress appears to have decided that the cooperation needed to legislate is simply too difficult so they have delegated their responsibility to the president and courts. > > This gives them more time to raise funds for their next election. I think there is a good bit of truth to this. That said, these laws date back to over forty years ago, and in some cases to nearly sixty years ago. Congress has been seriously dysfunctional for quite a while now, but it hasn’t been totally and uniformly dysfunctional since 1977, let alone since 1962. The United States Congress has managed to do all sorts of legislating since the Kennedy Administration (even while also delegating power to the executive branch). When (or if) we get out of this whole mess, I hope our elected leaders (at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue) take a good long hard look at various ways we’ve been doing business for at least a couple of generations. I _hope._ ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-impose-tariffs/840282/13 "2019-09-16T04:50:48Z")
Not much of a debate, more of a question that has been answered. Closed. [/moderating]