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Trump Threatens Illegal Tariffs On European Cars Again
Trump is threatening 25% tariffs on European autos, supposedly to protect national security. He has NO RIGHT to impose tariffs as that is up to Congress. This is a clear abuse of presidential power. It gets worse: the Republican administration won't release the report supposedly justifying its actions:
The Trump administration is snubbing Congress by refusing to turn over a report detailing an investigation into national security risks potentially posed by imported vehicles and auto parts, citing pending international negotiations and executive branch deliberations.
Congress inserted a provision in a spending bill last month demanding the White House turn over the long-secret government report that Trump used to declare in May 2019 that some unnamed imported autos pose risks to national security.
Congress ceded some trade policy to the executive branch, but it didn't make him a dictator free to set tariffs wherever he likes without even offering an explanation. Every time you think you've grasped the awfulness of the Trump administration, you discover new frontiers of contempt for rule of law.
On Tuesday [January 21, 2020], Trump said he was still considering imposing tariffs and mentioned imported European vehicles in particular, without singling out any brands.
.... tariffs would cost hundreds of thousands of auto jobs, dramatically raise prices on vehicles and threaten industry spending on self-driving cars.... called the national security designation “absurd.”
“Here for America” representing major German and Asian automakers, including Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Nissan Motor Co, said “there is no compelling reason not to disclose this report to the public, or to restrict trade in an industry that supports the jobs of millions of Americans.”
This is plainly illegal and even several usually awful Republicans say so:
Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican, blasted the decision saying “by refusing to make public the statutorily-required report on automobile tariffs, the Department of Commerce is willfully violating federal law.” Toomey said he was “evaluating the potential for corrective action to compel the rightful release of this report.”
A spokesman for Senator Chuck Grassley, the Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said the Justice Department memo “doesn’t seem to have much merit on its face. The law as passed by Congress is clear.”