Should single presidential signature control global trade policy?

Question

I've been watching the market chaos from constant tariff announcements and wondering if this makes institutional sense. Constitutionally, Congress controls tariffs, but decades of delegation mean a president can unilaterally reshape global supply chains with one signature. We've seen US tariff rates jump from 2.5% to 27% in just months, bypassing normal regulatory review. A single executive decision can affect millions of jobs and trigger international retaliation, while businesses scramble to adapt to policy uncertainty that changes faster than legal challenges can resolve. Should policies with trillion-dollar economic impacts require more institutional checks and balances? How do other major economies handle trade decisions - do they have better frameworks? For those in international business: how are you adapting to this level of policy uncertainty?

k310 · Accepted Answer

The premise for tariffs is false, though the USSC may just get along and go along, taking a Sharpie to the constitution. Again.
Day traders and those with inside information are profiting wildly.
Until enforced, laws are just recommendations these days.
If not enforced, or bent 180 degrees, it's autocracy.

bediger4000 · Answer

Yes, as long as it's Trump. We're lucky to have found a man who makes correct decisions. Can you imagine the hullabaloo that would have accompanied Biden or Obama or even G.W. Bush making these kind of decisions? We'd have heard from all major media how bad it was, billionaires would have been upset, and there would be congressmen and senators lining up for hearings. Now? Almost nothing. A few dispassionate, totally factual articles. Pundits are happy, billionaires happy, we're just waiting for the Supreme Court to dot the i's and cross the t's of formality.

SilverElfin · Answer

This isn&rsquo;t an issue limited to Trump. The law that enables his tariffs has been invoked many times in the past, with many of those still in effect:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Emergency_Econom...Other economies do grant executives ways to act quickly - hence the ability for many countries to enact retaliatory tariffs so quickly.Do I think it&rsquo;s bad? Not necessarily in principle - officials in executive positions often need to be able to act quickly. But Trump&rsquo;s approach has obviously damaged relationships with many long time partners like Canada and also important new partners like India. So maybe Congress should repeal IEEPA.