Today's talker: Trump's auto tariffs are an attack on the rule of law Should Congress step in to prevent President Trump from starting a trade war?

USA TODAY

President Trump called for tariffs on imported cars, trucks and auto parts Wednesday, expanding the same protectionist measures he threatened on aluminum and steel.

Congress, keep Trump in check

The claim that imported automobiles might represent some sort of threat to U.S. national security hardly merits even a moment’s thought, much less a formal inquiry. To President Trump — who has requested his Commerce Department investigate precisely this question — the inquiry provides a distraction from his mounting legal woes and, perhaps, the opportunity to secure some leverage in the ongoing North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations. But this latest assault on reason and the rule of law should compel Congress to finally act to rein in the dangers posed by an increasingly wayward chief executive.

U.S. automobile producers are not under any duress besides the president’s meddling into their investments and supply chain decisions. The industry is thriving, producing and selling record numbers of vehicles and generating record revenues in recent years. Even most of the foreign cars on U.S. roads were produced in American cities and towns. But what matters to Trump is that American greatness is symbolized by the might of its heavy industries, like autos and steel. What right thinking patriotic American wouldn’t reflexively support a president standing up for the U.S. auto industry? But it’s all optics. It’s all contrived.

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Earlier this year, to protect domestic steel and aluminum producers, Trump invoked Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and availed himself of the vast discretion that statute affords the president to define and then mitigate national security threats. But the law is intended for more solemn purposes than those motivating this president, who abhors empirics, economics, expertise and the constraints of law. The process is supposed to determine whether a threat exists and, if so, what to do about it. But Trump’s already asking to fast-track the process to announce as much as 25% tariffs on imported automobiles.

In addition to introducing noise to distract from the mounting, adverse legal developments afflicting this administration, Trump likely hopes to secure additional leverage to bend Canada and Mexico to his will over the terms of the so-called rules of origin for automobile trade in the revised NAFTA. Either way, Trump continues to squander U.S. international credibility.

Congress must begin to treat this administration as the profound threat to the republic that it so clearly has become. It should start by introducing legislation right away to repeal this law, and if there aren’t two-thirds in both chambers willing to override the veto, we should expect to experience a continued erosion of the rule of law and a permanent state of economic and geopolitical disarray.

Daniel Ikenson is director of the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies.

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What our readers are saying:

Tariffs on steel will cause car prices to go up, anyway. They will also impact airplane manufacturing and, subsequently, the cost of travel will increase to consumers.

Trump doesn't care about imposing tariffs because he's not greatly invested in these industries. Trump doesn't realize that millions of Americans will be impacted. He just doesn't think.

— Cynthia Queen

Our American automakers were glad to make mediocre products for decades because they knew they had a built-in market. The Japanese, Koreans and Europeans were delivering quality vehicles. The market should decide who thrives and who dies, not Trump.

— Adam Roth

A lot of the foreign car companies make their cars right here in America, especially in the South. They’re responsible for American jobs, pensions and the health of our economy, just as much as American brands — which are also made internationally now, particularly in Mexico. The fact of the matter is we live in a global economy, so any trade war involves shooting ourselves in the foot, as well. The stock market should react interestingly.

— Zheng Chen

More: Trump calls for new tariffs on imported cars and trucks, escalating trade wars

What others are saying:

Bloomberg, editorial: "Ideally, having chosen to de-escalate his fights with trade partners, Trump would press for changes in smarter and more productive ways. The U.S. does have valid complaints about subsidies and other state supports in Europe, and about China’s efforts to coerce intellectual property from its inward investors. Existing agreements and institutions aren’t well-suited to resolving these disputes promptly. They need to be improved — using existing alliances, new trade agreements and a revived World Trade Organization. The U.S. should lead this effort. For decades it did exactly that, and it worked."

Raising taxes on Americans who choose to buy imported cars or trucks is a bad idea. Doing it under the false pretense of national security--Section 232--is an even worse idea, as it invites retaliation and weakens our credibility on actual trade disputes. — Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) May 24, 2018

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, press statement: "Commerce’s 232 investigation into the national security implications of trade in automobiles, trucks and auto parts is deeply misguided. For most Americans, cars are the second largest purchase they make, after their homes. Taxing cars, trucks and auto parts coming into the country would directly hit American families who need a dependable vehicle, whether they choose a domestic or a global brand. Instead of taking from the pocketbooks of hardworking Americans, I urge the administration to remain focused on addressing China’s trade practices and to work constructively with our trading partners to increase opportunities overseas for American businesses, farmers, ranchers and workers."

I am very concerned about the president abusing the authorities granted to him in Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. There is no reason to use this provision to consider imposing tariffs on the automobile industry. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/9WTDX8csIE — Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) May 24, 2018

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