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So I wake up in my undisclosed location to see fresh policy madness. I think this needs some unpacking to appreciate just how wild it is. 1/ nytimes.com/2019/05/30/us/…
Leave the economics on one side, and consider the supposed legal justification. U.S. trade law gives the president huge discretion to impose tariffs, as long as he is willing to make bizarre claims – i.e., Canadian steel threatens national security 2/
But imposing tariffs without Congressional approval to serve goals that have nothing to do with trade policy – in this case, an immigration crisis that exists only in his mind – goes well beyond even the brazenness of his previous actions 3/
So he's claiming justification under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, which he claims basically lets him do anything he wants in response to anything he declares to be an emergency. I don't see any limits under this interpretation 4/
Could he, for example, impose punitive tariffs on Swiss watches because Swiss newspapers run cartoons that make fun of him? Why not? 5/ 
OK, the economics: What we import from Mexico are a lot of consumer items, especially food items, plus Mexico is a key part of the supply chain in various manufactures, especially autos. So this would hurt U.S. consumers and also hurt competitiveness of U.S. companies 6/
So this would be stagflationary: higher inflation plus lost jobs. Industry would howl. Also very nasty for U.S. farmers if Mexico retaliates. Plus we are, of course, throwing away any remaining credibility as a negotiating partner. 7/
Do I disapprove of Trump's methods? I don't see any method here. This is policy by tantrum, autocratic and irrational at the same time. I don't know whether it's about Mueller, or the likely release of some tax information, or whatever. I do know that the GOP will do nothing 8/
