r/politics • u/sweatycat New York • 1d ago

California to Negotiate Trade With Other Countries to Bypass Trump Tariffs

https://www.newsweek.com/california-newsom-trade-trump-tariffs-2055414
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u/Mono_KS Foreign 1d ago

On one hand, this is unconstitutional and has no legal ground.

On the other, everything Trump does is unconstitutional and has no legal ground.

So fuck it.

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u/LackingUtility 1d ago

On one hand, this is unconstitutional and has no legal ground.

Depends. It's not my area of expertise, but at least one way to do it that would be completely constitutional would be to convince other countries to exempt specific products - that just happen to primarily be made in California - from their tariffs. For example, China imposes a 34% tariff on American agricultural products except almonds, which it exempts. Good for California, which produces 80% of the world's almonds. Totally constitutional, as it's not some sort of per-state treaty.

I'm not sure how California would do the reverse. Perhaps a state subsidy on particular products (that it primarily imports from China)? That would be legal.

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u/Coyote_406 1d ago

Regulation of commerce with foreign nations is exclusively the province of the federal government.

It is per se unconstitutional for a state to negotiate their own tariff policies the same way the state of California cannot make treaties with foreign nations.

I’m not opposed to Newsome getting creative or even sticking it to Trump, but Art. 1, §8 of the Constitution is clear:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises … To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes…

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u/LackingUtility 1d ago

That's a bit of a misreading of both "regulate" and "tariff policies". Yes, Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and the United States, but that's not to say that a state can't ever purchase anything from a foreign country - put another way, Congress is in charge of customs and border controls, tariffs, and regulation of various industries such as pharmaceuticals. But that doesn't mean that a state can't purchase, say, Chinese photocopiers for use in its offices. Or, going specifically to what I suggested, the fact that Congress has that power doesn't mean that California can't say that they will give a tax break on imports from particular countries. Their action in doing so does not impede Congress' ability to regulate commerce.

Similarly, under my suggestion, California wouldn't be applying any tariffs. They would be negotiating with another country who is imposing tariffs, but Congress' power to levy taxes doesn't impede foreign governments from levying taxes - how could it? Nor is it a treaty between the United States and a foreign country if California says "we'll exclusively buy products from you if you exempt our products from your retaliatory tariffs." The US isn't party to such an agreement and has no obligations under it.