Trump’s two presidencies

https://arab.news/6q9pv

The recent 6-3 ruling by the US Supreme Court that struck down President Trump’s sweeping tariffs is more than just a legal setback; it is a systemic correction that brings the Two Presidencies Thesis into stark relief. According to this thesis, the US President is granted wide latitude in foreign policy. But, as soon as the policy pendulum swings too far on domestic issues, the system corrects itself through checks and balances.

Trump’s tariffs were designed as disincentives to force manufacturing back to American soil. Also, revenue streams from tariffs were central to his economic messaging about making foreign countries pay their “fair share” toward reducing the US fiscal deficit and national debt.

However, Chief Justice John Roberts, along with five other justices, including Trump appointees, have delivered a somber verdict. President Trump cannot use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as a blank check to reshape global trade. The court held that while the US President may regulate imports, he does not have the authority to impose tariffs as, like taxes, they also raise revenue. Analysts have hailed this decision as a reaffirmation of US Congress’s constitutional power of the purse.

Continuous political and economic uncertainty will........

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