19 votes

Donald Trump says US will hit Mexico with tariffs on all goods, starting at 5% on June 10 and increasing monthly up to 25%

Posted by Deimos
Tags: usa, mexico, politics, policy.trade, tariffs, presidents, donald trump, republican party, short read, paywall.soft
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/us/politics/trump-mexico-tariffs.html

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Title
Trump Says U.S. Will Hit Mexico With Tariffs on All Goods
Published
May 30 2019
Word count
325 words

7 comments

  1. [2]
    spctrvl
    Link
    It amazes me that the president having this kind of unilateral tariff power isn't really coming under closer scrutiny. It's not as if it's written into the constitution, it's a power the president...

    It amazes me that the president having this kind of unilateral tariff power isn't really coming under closer scrutiny. It's not as if it's written into the constitution, it's a power the president was granted by congress during the cold war, it can and should be revoked. Not that that's going to come to pass until there's a new senate and president, but I definitely think that clawing back executive branch power creep is something the democrats should work towards whenever they get back in power.

    16 votes
    1. spit-evil-olive-tips
      Link Parent
      For context on the specific statute that's being used to authorize this: International Emergency Economic Powers Act: It seems pretty clear that Trump's actions are not what Congress had in mind...

      For context on the specific statute that's being used to authorize this: International Emergency Economic Powers Act:

      Congress enacted the IEEPA in 1977 to clarify and restrict presidential power during times of declared national emergency under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 ("TWEA"). Under TWEA, starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, presidents had the power to declare emergencies without limiting their scope or duration, without citing the relevant statutes, and without congressional oversight. The Supreme Court in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer limited what a president could do in such an emergency, but did not limit the emergency declaration power itself. A 1973 Senate investigation found (in Senate Report 93-549) that four declared emergencies remained in effect: the 1933 banking crisis with respect to the hoarding of gold, a 1950 emergency with respect to the Korean War, a 1970 emergency regarding the postal workers strike, and a 1971 emergency in response to the government's deteriorating economic and fiscal conditions. Congress terminated these emergencies with the National Emergencies Act, and then passed the IEEPA to restore the emergency power in a limited, overseeable form.

      It seems pretty clear that Trump's actions are not what Congress had in mind in 1977 - they were trying to rein in executive power that was already too broadly used.

      8 votes
  2. [2]
    Deimos
    Link
    Here's the official White House statement: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-regarding-emergency-measures-address-border-crisis/

    Here's the official White House statement: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-regarding-emergency-measures-address-border-crisis/

    8 votes
    1. Algernon_Asimov
      Link Parent
      There are more than 280 characters in that statement. I think someone got a grown-up to help him with his homework! That said, the writing style of sections of that statement is very Trumpian....

      There are more than 280 characters in that statement. I think someone got a grown-up to help him with his homework!

      That said, the writing style of sections of that statement is very Trumpian. Even if he didn't write it himself, he seems to have taken a very personal and direct interest in what it says and how it says it.

      4 votes
  3. [2]
    Algernon_Asimov
    Link
    That's what I was thinking. Doesn't Trump realise that the tariffs will be paid by Americans who are buying these imported goods? Tariffs aren't paid by the foreign exporters, they're paid by the...

    Mexico sent the United States $346.5 billion of goods last year — meaning that a 5 percent tariff on those products would amount to a tax increase of more than $17 billion.

    Most of the costs would then be passed on to businesses and consumers.

    That's what I was thinking. Doesn't Trump realise that the tariffs will be paid by Americans who are buying these imported goods? Tariffs aren't paid by the foreign exporters, they're paid by the domestic importers and their local customers.

    So, he's punishing his own citizens for another country's supposed crimes. Way to go, Mr President.

    3 votes
    1. spit-evil-olive-tips
      Link Parent
      Nope! Even by Trump standards, he's amazingly full of shit on this.

      Doesn't Trump realise that the tariffs will be paid by Americans who are buying these imported goods?

      Nope! Even by Trump standards, he's amazingly full of shit on this.

      “We have billions of dollars coming into our Treasury — billions — from China. We never had 10 cents coming into our Treasury; now we have billions coming in,” he said on Jan. 24.

      On May 5, he tweeted: “For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA.”

      5 votes
  4. wistar
    Link
    I recently read that more Americans—USAians—are moving to Mexico than Mexicans moving to the US. True or not, perhaps Mexico should loudly propose a retaliatory tariff until the U.S. does...

    I recently read that more Americans—USAians—are moving to Mexico than Mexicans moving to the US. True or not, perhaps Mexico should loudly propose a retaliatory tariff until the U.S. does something to stem the tide of Americans going south.

    1 vote