A trip through America’s constitution – and an explanation of how it got us to Trump – teaches us to beware the pull of executive power, writes Harrison Griffiths

With the stroke of a pen, President Trump imposed one of the largest tax rises in America’s peacetime history. With another stroke he drew them back. The new tariffs, however they settle, will no doubt damage American consumers, disrupt global trade and undermine America’s position as a global superpower.

In a constitutional republic defined by separation of powers, how can something like this happen? The catastrophic impacts of these tariffs on America’s economy, global trade and the US-led international order will all be the consequence of presidential fiat.

But this is one area where Trump isn’t attempting some kind of dictatorial power grab. Over the last 80 years, Congress has been ceding more and more of its tariff power to the executive.

How did we get to Trump?

It started off with noble intentions. The Trade Expansion Act of 1962 was packed full of provisions to give the President authority to quickly negotiate trade barrier reductions in the name of Cold War expediency. But Section 232 of the Act gave the President wide latitude to impose tariffs if “an article is being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten or impair the national security”.

Section 232 was used only twice and was dormant after 1982 as the world began breaking down trade barriers en masse. That was until 2018, when President Trump invoked the measure as the basis for starting a trade war with China by implementing steel and aluminium tariffs. So what was the big national security........

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