Congress has the sole power to declare war.

[royamcr]

Should this power extend to trade wars? All wars have consequences, just because bullets aren't flying it does it mean people are not being hurt.

[Tiny]

You should rephrase that royamcr, to does Congress "have sole Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises." That's from the constitution, except I inserted the word "sole."

I suspect Trump is exceeding the authority granted him by law in levying the taxes on steel and aluminum without Congressional authority. And believe he would have if he'd levied a 25% tax on all Canadian imports. He is granted authority in the case of emergencies and the like to impose tariffs, and thus could make a valid argument for tariffs on China and Mexico. That's if you believe China is our enemy and Mexico is killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens through lax immigration, and through something else we can't discuss here. I don't.

But that and $5 will buy you a tall caffe americano at Starbucks.

[farmstud60]

The real problem is that Congress has pushed hard decisions off onto unelected bureaucrats which are basically part of the executive branch.

[royamcr]

Originally Posted by Tiny

You should rephrase that royamcr, to does Congress "have sole Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises." That's from the constitution, except I inserted the word "sole."

I suspect Trump is exceeding the authority granted him by law in levying the taxes on steel and aluminum without Congressional authority. And believe he would have if he'd levied a 25% tax on all Canadian imports. He is granted authority in the case of emergencies and the like to impose tariffs, and thus could make a valid argument for tariffs on China and Mexico. That's if you believe China is our enemy and Mexico is killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens through lax immigration, and through something else we can't discuss here. I don't.

But that and $5 will buy you a tall caffe americano at Starbucks.

True that is just more detailed list of the powers of Congress. I was referring more to initiating a Trade war by only the Executive branch. It seems to me that is an overreach of the branch and any trade war should be approved by congress just like any other war. I supposed if another country has tariffs on imports that is an initiation of trade war and maybe the executive branch has the authority to respond?

[500sl]

Yea, don’t let the president be proactive, let’s run it through congress so they can continue getting their kickback. Why not increase the government more, right? Let’s have 5 presidents

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by 500sl

Yea, don’t let the president be proactive, let’s run it through congress so they can continue getting their kickback. Why not increase the government more, right? Let’s have 5 presidents

If the president were displaying better judgement on this issue you MIGHT have a point:

https://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?p=1063714820

But probably not. If the politicians and courts start interpreting the Constitution fast and loose, then you're going to see a whole lot bigger government the next time Democrats control the presidency and Congress, and pack the courts with their nominees.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by royamcr

True that is just more detailed list of the powers of Congress. I was referring more to initiating a Trade war by only the Executive branch. It seems to me that is an overreach of the branch and any trade war should be approved by congress just like any other war. I supposed if another country has tariffs on imports that is an initiation of trade war and maybe the executive branch has the authority to respond?

If you're going to compare this to war, a good analogy might be Germany during World War II. It signed a non aggression treaty with the USSR in 1939 and then invaded two years later.

We signed onto the World Trade Organization (WTO), and we've been abandoning our commitments thereto since Trump took office the last time.

Trump, using his logic, could make the argument that he didn't agree to join the WTO, so fuck it. But even then, I don't see how he would get off imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, AFTER he negotiated the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced NAFTA. It's just a continuation of his shady business practices, where he frequently refused to stick to what he said or signed.

[farmstud60]

Originally Posted by Tiny

If you're going to compare this to war, a good analogy might be Germany during World War II. It signed a non aggression treaty with the USSR in 1939 and then invaded two years later.

We signed onto the World Trade Organization (WTO), and we've been abandoning our commitments thereto since Trump took office the last time.

Trump, using his logic, could make the argument that he didn't agree to join the WTO, so fuck it. But even then, I don't see how he would get off imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, AFTER he negotiated the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced NAFTA. It's just a continuation of his shady business practices, where he frequently refused to stick to what he said or signed.

You are forgetting that China never complied with some issues they agreed too when they were allowed to enter the WTO. Also, Europe hasn't followed WTO guidelines on Agriculture trade either.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by farmstud60

You are forgetting that China never complied with some issues they agreed too when they were allowed to enter the WTO. Also, Europe hasn't followed WTO guidelines on Agriculture trade either.

Fair point. You probably know this issue better than I do, given you actually produce products that are exported. If we renege on the USMCA treaty though there’s no good excuse, especially as to Canada

[Precious_b]

Too bad we don't have anyone here that seems to know Constitutional Law.