Is an Abuse of Power

By America-Today      May 26, 2025 

In an unprecedented move, President Trump justified the imposition of

tariffs on Canada. China, and Mexico under the International Emergency

Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) based on an “extraordinary threat” from

illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The problem for the president,

however, is that IEEPA does not explicitly grant tariff authority at all—

indeed, the words “duty” or “tariff” appear nowhere in the statute—and

to the extent that it grants power to restrict imports, it requires that

there be a direct connection between the action taken (here, broad-

based tariffs) and a properly declared national emergency (here,

migrants and fentanyl crossing the southern border). But there is no

direct connection between tariffs on imports of all goods—no matter

how innocent or far removed from fentanyl—and the declared national

emergency.

The president’s initial move to impose IEEPA-based tariffs came on Feb.

1, with 10 percent tariffs announced on all goods from China and 25

percent on all goods from Mexico and all goods other than energy

products (which were subject to a 10 percent duty) from Canada. The

president subsequently paused their application to imports from Canada

and Mexico but increased the tariffs to 20 percent on all goods from China.