r/politics 1d ago

Conservative group claims Trump's tariffs illegally usurp powers of Congress

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/this-unlawful-impost-must-fall-conservative-group-sues-trump-claiming-tariffs-are-unconstitutional-exercise-of-legislative-power/
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u/Rc72 22h ago

This is what gets me most. Remember the Boston Tea Party? "No taxation without representation"? It was triggered by an act of Parliament to levy tariffs on imports of tea from China into the thirteen colonies, to pay for their own defense and administration. That's right folks, the whole American Revolution was started over tariffs, and the Americans of the time weren't so stupid to believe, like Trump, that those tariffs were taxes on China. They knew perfectly they were taxes on themselves, and thus wanted to have a say on the matter. Which is why the Founding Fathers, when drafting the Constitution, placed the power to levy taxes, tariffs very definitely included, firmly into the hands of Congress, not the President.

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u/frogandbanjo 21h ago

Which is why the Founding Fathers, when drafting the Constitution, placed the power to levy taxes, tariffs very definitely included, firmly into the hands of Congress, not the President.

Well, okay, they did do that, but your comment does not actually lay out an argument for why they did that.