Dem
47
GOP
53
On Friday, Donald Trump announced more tariffs. In particular, many countries have tariffs on U.S. products and the U.S. does not have tariffs on their products. Trump wants to change that. As a starter, he wants to impose the same tariffs on every other country equal to what they impose on the U.S. He also has a group reviewing all tariffs; that group is due to report back to him on April 1. Depending on what is in that report, there could be more tariffs later. Yesterday Trump said that he will impose a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports today. The U.S. imports $82 billion worth of steel and iron annually and $26 billion worth of aluminum, mostly from Canada and Mexico, but also from China, in some cases via Canada or Mexico. The U.S. exports $43 billion worth of steel and iron and $13 billion worth of aluminum, which are likely to be hit by tariffs levied by the countries they go to. Trade war, here we come.
As long as we are on the subject of metals, Trump just ordered the U.S. Mint to stop producing pennies. They cost 3.7¢ each to make and everyone hates them. The eurozone technically has a €0.01 coin, but almost all cash purchases within the E.U. are rounded off to the nearest €0.05. Electronic purchases are exact. This means that if you buy something for €14.98 and pay with a credit or debit card, it costs €14.98, but if you pay cash, it is €15.00. But if you buy something for €14.97, you are better off paying cash. If you buy many items at a supermarket, the rounding applies only to the total amount, not the individual items.
Trump thinks that tariffs are some kind of magic pill that cures everything. What he forgets is that when he puts a tariff on some foreign-made product, that product will get more expensive for American consumers. In other words, tariffs cause inflation and his base doesn't like inflation.
Another problem is whether Trump really has the power to levy tariffs on his own. The Constitution explicitly grants the power to levy tariffs to Congress. If Trump goes ahead with his plan, there will be lawsuits from companies affected by them and the whole thing will end up in John Roberts' lap, as usual.
Congress did delegate some authority to the president on tariffs, but the Supreme Court has been trying to rein in executive branch agencies by ruling they can't do things unless Congress has expressly given them the authority to do them. In other words, the Court has not been friendly to the idea of Congress giving its power to the executive branch. That could play a role here, if the Court decides consistency is important. (V)