Trump’s tariffs weren’t economic policy. They were a corruption machine |
After two decades of deferring to executive authority and eroding anti-bribery laws, the supreme court has suddenly limited presidential power in a way that could make one ugly form of political influence a bit more difficult to pull off. Last week’s ruling did not merely strip one president of his executive power to unilaterally impose levies across broad swaths of the economy – it makes it harder for any president to transform tariffs from a broad economic policy into a personal political cudgel that muzzles criticism and enforces fealty.
“A Supreme Court otherwise inclined to endlessly expand Trump’s authority just restricted his go-to tool, ruling that U.S. presidents do not have the power to unilaterally deploy tariffs and dole out punishment and favor to specific companies and economic sectors, friends and family, and entire countries,” said Lori Wallach of Rethink Trade.
Donald Trump has been able to weaponize tariffs by citing a section of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) that allows a president to “regulate … importation”. As long as tariffs were presumed to be a permissible form of “regulat[ing] … importation” under this law, Trump could assert the power to unilaterally impose whatever tariffs he wanted, at whatever product-by-product levels he chose, and with any exemptions he desired – all without explanation or explicit authorization from Congress.
Amid the administration’s grotesquerie of self-enrichment, Trump has spent his second term adjusting trade policy in bespoke ways that just so happen to reward political allies and donors. Some examples:
The Washington Post reported that Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, dumped $1m into Trump’s inauguration, cultivated relationships with Trump officials, and “refrained from publicly criticizing the president or his policies on national television” – just before securing tariff exemptions for his company’s products.
The Washington Post reported that Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, dumped $1m into Trump’s inauguration, cultivated relationships with Trump officials, and “refrained from publicly criticizing the president or his policies on national television” – just before securing tariff exemptions for his company’s products.
ProPublica reported that the administration approved a tariff exemption for a thermoplastic made by a company “owned by a pair of brothers who have donated millions of dollars to Republican........