The 'unavoidable' tariff order on goods from Canada, Mexico and China officially took effect from February 4. What legal authority did Mr. Trump use?

White House officials announced on February 1 that US President Donald Trump had ordered a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on goods from China starting February 4 to deal with the national emergency of fentanyl (an addictive painkiller) and illegal immigration into the US.

The 'inevitable' tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese goods officially took effect on February 4. (Source: legendsoftheroad)

Officials told reporters that energy products from Canada would only be subject to a 10 percent tariff, but energy imports from Mexico would be subject to the full 25 percent tariff.

Trump declared a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to back the tariffs, which allows for broader powers to be used to deal with crises. White House officials noted there would be no exceptions to the tariffs.

US President Donald Trump also stated that Canada, China and Mexico cannot avoid the tariffs that Washington intends to apply to goods from these countries. Responding to a reporter's question about whether these three countries can do anything to prevent the imposition of tariffs, Mr. Trump affirmed: "No, not at this time. This is purely an economic issue. We have a big deficit with all three countries."

"One country is shipping massive amounts of fentanyl, killing hundreds of thousands of people every year. The other two countries are facilitating the entry of this poison," Mr. Trump emphasized.

According to President Trump, the US is not looking for concessions when imposing these tariffs.

The move, which fulfills a threat President Trump has made repeatedly since winning the presidential election last year, could trigger retaliation and risk sparking a trade war.

“A tariff order may seem a little vague,” observers say, but it’s worth understanding what legal authority President Donald Trump is citing in his tariff announcement. During his first term, he waged trade wars by invoking rules that allow tariffs to be imposed as a response to unfair trade practices or national security concerns.

This time, he declared a national emergency, citing “illegal aliens and drugs,” and used that authority to impose tariffs. This isn’t an obscure law, actually — it’s often used to impose sanctions on countries like Russia or Venezuela.

But for tariffs, it is unusual. And unlike the methods he has used in the past, it allows the US president to skip steps, like investigations and comment periods.

“This is a pretty powerful piece of legislation and I think it could be used in an unprecedented way to implement this blanket tariff,” said trade lawyer Everett Eissenstat, who served as White House economic adviser during Trump’s first term.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/order-to-import-tax-cannot-be-trafficked-to-canada-mexico-and-trung-quoc-chinh-thuc-co-hieu-luc-tu-42-ong-trump-dung-tham-quyen-phap-ly-nao-302872.html