Speaking of fake emergencies, the Court of International Trade ruled on May 28 that Dictator Trump broke the law in imposing tariffs to address his numerous cooked-up emergencies. On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld that ruling, declaring that most of Trump’s tariffs violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act:
IEEPA authorizes the President to take certain actions in response to a declared national emergency arising from an “unusual and extraordinary threat[] . . . to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.” 50 U.S.C. § 1701(a).…
The statute bestows significant authority on the President to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax.…
Notably, when drafting IEEPA, Congress did not use the term “tariff” or any of its synonyms, like “duty” or “tax.” There are numerous statutes that do delegate to the President the power to impose tariffs; in each of these statutes that we have identified, Congress has used clear and precise terms to delegate tariff power, reciting the term “duties” or one of its synonyms. In contrast, none of these statutes uses the broad term “regulate” without also separately and explicitly granting the President the authority to impose tariffs. The absence of any such tariff language in IEEPA contrasts with statutes where Congress has affirmatively granted such power and included clear limits on that power [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ruling, V.O.S. Selections et al. v Trump et al., Case #25-1812, pp. 26–27].
The appeals court did reverse the CIT’s injunction on the tariffs, allowing the tariffs to remain in effect until October 14, giving the CIT time to revisit its ruling and giving the dictator time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Creighton University’s Ernie Goss follows the economies of several breadbasket states. He says Mexico remains the top destination for agricultural exports although Colorado is less dependent on that nation according to August numbers but South Dakota sends 77.3% of its ag product exports to America’s southern neighbor. Canada is the top destination for Wyoming’s exported agricultural goods and livestock.