A flawed interpretation of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act served as the legal foundation for Donald Trump’s irrational imposition of tariffs worldwide since his absurd April 2 Liberation Day. However, even the most lenient reading of the legislation does not grant the president the authority to utilize trade taxes for extortion and other purely personal grudges.
And Trump’s threats against Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, claiming he would put a 50% tariff on commodities from the largest country in South America, are best described as extortion.
In exchange for halting the tariffs, Lula is essentially attempting to order the suspension of the ongoing prosecution of former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, which is based on evidence that Bolsonaro attempted to overturn the results of a fair election—something Trump undoubtedly sympathizes with—rather than trade or the economy. Lula did the right thing by ordering the US president to go lost and referring to Trump as an emperor.
Trump now seeks to interfere in Brazilian domestic affairs in order to defend one of his fellow members of the worldwide far-right movement. His attempts to deny military supplies to Ukraine until that nation unearthed information about adversary Joe Biden were the main reason for Trump’s first impeachment, which seems to have occurred decades ago. He is obviously no stranger to abusing his power to try to force other nations into agreeable political outcomes.
However, this is a one-way street for Trump, who is also frequently angry about the possibility of foreign powers meddling in American affairs. He regularly uses graphic reports from his preferred right-wing cable channels to imply that other countries are attempting to do to Brazil essentially the same thing he is openly attempting to do.
Following extensive deliberation, the Manhattan-based Federal Court of International Trade declared on May 28 that Trump had overreached himself in imposing the tariffs and ordered their removal. Oral arguments are scheduled for July 31 while the appeals court reviews the judgment, which has been stayed.
However, we don’t believe that the administration makes any mention of the president’s authority to apply tariffs as political favors or sanctions for out-of-power foreign leaders who are being prosecuted for abuse of power in any of their legal documents. What makes that an economic emergency on a national level?
Although it is absurd, Trump’s insistence that the United States must have a net zero or trade surplus with every other nation in order to guarantee economic development is at least consistent. The issue here is that there is no trade deficit between the United States and Brazil that needs to be addressed, thus Trump’s pursuit of these tariffs is purely motivated by extortion.
But in some way, he can still take precedence over Congress in that regard?
The people must rely on the independent courts to hold Trump accountable after the Republican Congress once again lets him violate the legislature’s rights. This is true in many other areas as well.
Until those courts ultimately overturn Trump’s absurd tariffs, he will continue to drastically alter international trade and have a devastating effect on American consumers and businesses. However, he has now undermined the legal defense of his own administration.
He has simply stated that he views these tariffs as an extension of a foreign policy that he decides on on a daily basis without any rhyme or reason. The courts have an obligation to state that this is not a good cause to take away Congress’s authority.
