Thursday, January 26, 2017

Trump can levy tariffs without Congress


Trump doesn't need Congress to impose his 'Border Tax'...





7 comments:

Penguin pop said...

The executive order playbook at work. Circumvent Congress on their dumbest bullshit to get the Trump agenda going.

Matt Franko said...

A big pot of USDs to go after here:

http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt


These disgraced zombies probably wont give it up quietly though...

John said...

Won't the WTO have something to say about it?

Tom Hickey said...

Won't the WTO have something to say about it?

Trump may be ready to pull out. I would not be surprised to see pulling out of the UN, too. At least threatening.

This is the negotiating strategy of taking the ball and leaving. Closely related to Hobson's choice.

It's a subset of playing hardball.

Trump declared he was going to play hard ball so there should be no surprise now.

To win that this game people have to believe you are ruthless. Trump knows that,, of course.

John said...

Tom, but isn't that an empty threat? Bluffing is good politics, especially when people have become so unbalanced by Trump's deliberate wackiness, but that would be the worst bluff ever. He'd never in a trillion years be able to pull out of the WTO or the UN. Threatening it and then backing down would make him look weak and, the thing he hates most, a loser.

So the WTO becomes a real stumbling block for his policies. Renegotiating Nafta is hard enough, is he going to try and renegotiate terms with an organisation that represents nearly the whole world?! It can't be done, and certainly not within a respectable timespan. It was designed like the EU to make life next to impossible to renegotiate. You can leave and take the consequences, which no corporation wants to do. You have to wonder if he's picking his battles, or if he's simply decided to go to war with absolutely anybody and everybody who even looks at him askance.

What I would give to be a fly on the Oval Office wall! Without question this is going to be the most interesting president in modern times. As I said some time ago, if he achieves a mere fraction of the things he wants, it'll prove that governing is a question of will, not constraints. I have my doubts, but either way, it's going to be a monster ride!

Tom Hickey said...

Not really, because Trump is talking to a lot of people at the same time. His base would love it and reward him for it politically. He would come across as crazy to the people he is negotiating with and that's a big plus. Trump doesn't care what the concerned liberals or the establishment thinks. They will hate for anything that doesn't cave to them.

NeilW said...

"He'd never in a trillion years be able to pull out of the WTO or the UN."

Why not. What is the WTO or the UN without the most powerful nation in it. A waste of time.

WTO is about free trade, and Trump is going to give Mercantalism another bash.