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Comment by cogman10 | Hacker News Reader

Gotta be honest, I think it's more likely that Trump just has a strange fixation on tariffs. I don't really think there was a whole lot of planning around them other than "I want them".

How he's deployed them and spoken/written about them makes me think he thinks it's a good way to strong arm countries and he wanted to strong arm everyone.

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I think it's because it's one thing he can control all by himself. Look at all the attention he's receiving. The "will he/won't he" reality TV. Put a tweet saying X%. No, they won't be cancelled. Yes I'm suspending them for 90 days. And so on.

He has a long record of advocating for tariffs. He thinks they're a good idea.

Except he can't. They're abusing a legal loophole that probably can be easily defeated in court if anyone interested can actually locate their balls to do it

All the way up to the SCOTUS, at which point it'll be a 7-2 vote in Trump's favor.

I'm not saying he won't win the case but you're daft if you think it won't be 5-4 on the grounds that congress actually has to pass something to signal their intent to the courts.

The question here is not whether congress has to pass something, the question is can congress delegate this authority which is explicitly set by the constitution.

There were a bunch of sentences regarding non delegation of powers of congress, mainly for federal agencies, and courts deciding that congress can't delegate those faculties, so, by the book, this would be a similar situation. There is actually an ongoing case for this aspect of the discussion:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/07/trump-tariff...

The are a few republican judges that dont seem too keen on having their names attached to the demise of American empire

maybe 2 which is not enough

I believe that particular ship has sailed.

Even fewer that won't fall in line if threatened to be doxxed to the MAGA mob via Xitter.

How many of them are on the SCOTUS?

I don't believe he can get a 7/2 ruling in SCOTUS. But I do believe he can get Republicans in the current Congress to jump for him, and to try to ensure their majority by disenfranchising people before the midterms.

reasonably he can, even if its illegal. unless he gets inpeached and removed, theres no mechanism to stop him.

even then, congress can vote but who would actually remove him from power?

That's obvious. You can find news clips from the late 80's/early 90's where he is mouthing off about tariffs. That rut is eroded deep in his brain...

He definitely does, and has since at least the '80s.

That and his self-image as The Best Negotiator (while his actual "negotiating tactics" are really just mob-boss intimidation and bullying) are a huge part of what's going on here.

Well congress has until July to reign them in before they (and the people) lose even more money in their savings. They better be swift.

What's in July?

That's 90 days from now.

Could you elaborate on what will happen in July?

That's 90 days from today when the tariffs are supposed to take effect again.

There's no actual commitment here. He could reverse again tonight. He signaled ongoing dissatisfaction with countries that had retaliated, so may well take further action there during the 90 days, which 90 days are, again, meaningless in that they don't bind him at all, and even if they did, he's done a bunch of things he's "not allowed to" and so far has gotten away with tons of it.

You're right. But as we see with TikTok, he loves to talk big but keep kicking thr can down the road instead of backing off. There will inevitably be more spats in the meantime (especially with the EU), but I wouldn't be surprised if he extends it more when July looms (assuming that congress bill is still struggling to pass).

Trump has had a bizarre fixation on trade deficits since the eighties. Back then he blamed Japan. Now it's China. It's his one and only ideological commitment.

> I think it's more likely that Trump just has a strange fixation on tariffs

It's the only "powerful" thing he can use that doesn't require him going back to congress.

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