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/Zakaru99 1d ago

Is it really breaking the law to ignore a brand new unconstitutional law?

The president doesn't have the authority to unilaterally impose a new tax without congress.

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u/MIT_Engineer 1d ago

If the states ignore this law, then that means the law comes into effect.

Tariffs aren't administered by the states, they're administered by the federal government. The states are just bystanders.

If the states tried to interfere with the collection of tariffs, THAT would be breaking the law, and it wouldn't have the desired effect: all it would mean is imports to their state would shut down, not that they'd come in tariff-free.

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u/Zakaru99 1d ago

Since you apparently didn't read it, I'll repeat:

The president doesn't have the authority to unilaterally impose a new tax without congress.

I understand that tariffs (a tax) are administered by the federal government. That doesn't mean the president can impose tariffs unilaterally. Congress is part of the federal government. Congress is required to impose a new tax, by the constitution. Trump is trying to impose a new tax unilaterally, which is unconstitutional, AKA breaking the law.

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u/Neve4ever 18h ago

Congress has given the power to impose tariffs to the president.