National Review Online
Thursday, July 10, 2025
You may recall that “liberation day” was supposed to be
in April, but then the stock market and the dollar tanked, bond yields soared,
and President Trump delayed all the tariffs for 90 days. Since then, three
federal judges — one appointed by Reagan and one appointed by Trump —
unanimously ruled that the “reciprocal” tariffs Trump is imposing under the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act are illegal.
Now, Trump is imposing the tariffs by sending letters to
the leaders of foreign countries. Many of them are at rates similar to those
announced in April. He insists these letters are final and the tariffs will be
in force on August 1, with no extensions.
The markets’ reaction this time is different: They don’t
believe him. Markets have barely budged as Trump announces basically the same
destructive tariffs in a different form of communication. The Wall Street
mantra “TACO” — Trump Always Chickens Out — seems to be conventional wisdom
now.
That doesn’t make the tariffs any less crazy. He is
sending these letters to foreign leaders as though they are the ones who pay
tariffs. Trump should be sending all of these to the American people, as they
are the ones who would bear the burden of these tax hikes.
Remember these tariffs are supposedly about national
security and reducing trade deficits. So it’s more than a little odd that
Trump’s letter to Brazilian President Lula da Silva begins with a rant about a
“witch hunt” against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and imposes 50
percent tariffs on goods from Brazil — a country with which the U.S. has a
trade surplus.
The administration has cited a need to counter China’s
abusive trade practices, but this is undermined by the 25 percent tariff on
Japanese goods. Trump sees the trade deficit there as a greater problem than
the benefits gained by close trading relations with an allied nation. Japanese
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed his exasperation, calling the tariffs “deeply
regrettable,” and Japan has been looking at closer trading relations with China
in recent months.
There are plenty of issues on which we have criticized
Congress for inaction, but Congress has in fact acted to promote free trade
with South Korea. Large, bipartisan majorities in both chambers approved a free
trade agreement with that country in 2011. Then, Trump himself renegotiated the
deal during his first term in office.
When he signed the new agreement with the president of
South Korea in 2018, he said it was “a historic milestone in trade” and “a great
day for the United States and a great day for South Korea.” Now, Trump says he
wants 25 percent tariffs on goods from South Korea because of trade barriers
that by and large do not exist.
Was anyone particularly concerned about the trade balance
with Kazakhstan? Moldova? Brunei? Algeria? Tariffs on all of them, just
because.
Presidents should not behave this way, and they can’t.
Trump’s actions under IEEPA have already been ruled illegal by one federal
court, and oral arguments for the appeals court are scheduled for July 31.
IEEPA does not mention the word “tariffs” at all, and Congress cannot delegate
its enumerated power to regulate international commerce without any limits,
which is what Trump is claiming by continuing to freelance trade policy while
pointing to that law.
If they put an end to Trump’s tariff spree, the courts
would be doing the rule of law, and the markets, a favor.
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