President Trump's tariffs- Taxation without Representation

According to the text of the United States Constitution, the President of the United States, acting on his own, does not have the power to impose tariffs.  Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, states that Congress—not the President—has the “power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises. . .”.  In The Federalist Papers Numbers 12, 21, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, and 41, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison repeatedly refer to the topics of “duties,” “imposts” or “excises”—what we today call “tariffs”—leaving no doubt that this power rests solely with Congress under Article I of the Constitution. 

The Founders were acutely aware of the economic effects of tariffs on the national economy and that their use could become oppressive and abusive. As Alexander Hamilton stated in Federalist No. 21, "If duties are too high, they lessen the consumption; the collection is eluded; and the product to the treasury is not so great as when they are confined within proper and moderate bounds. This forms a complete barrier against any material oppression of the citizens by taxes of this class, and is itself a natural limitation of the power of imposing them." President Trump's tariffs will likely test the outer limits of this proposition.

Our recent experience shows why the Founders wisely placed the power to impose tariffs with Congress, and not one man acting on his own.  As Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 35, "[t]here is no part of the administration of government that requires extensive information and a thorough knowledge of the principles of political economy, so much as the business of taxation." As a result of President Trump's impulsive and ill-conceived tarriffs, we are now experiencing a number of negative economic effects, which include the evaporation of trillions of dollars of stock market value, increased prices, lob losses, and an increased risk of recession.    These tariffs are fundamentally unfair to the business owners of America who have relied upon the importation of certain products in their business models and now face financial ruin.

As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 71, “[t]he republican principle demands that the deliberate sense of the community should govern the conduct of those to whom they entrust the management of their affairs . . .”.  By bypassing and ignoring Congress’ role under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, these tariffs were imposed without assessing the deliberate sense of the communities that have been most effected by them. These tariffs amount to nothing less than taxation without representation. 

Under our Constitution, one man acting alone does not have the power to affect the fate of the Nation in this manner without the consent of the people.  That consent is obtained by an act of Congress according to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution which has been bypassed in this case. Congress must immediately repeal these unconstitutional tariffs and mandate by law that any future tariffs may only be imposed with its express congressional approval.