Cigar Industry Prepares for Trump’s Tariffs to Take Effect (Update)

[El Presidente]

Cigar Industry Prepares for Trump’s Tariffs to Take Effect (Update)

On Wednesday, President Trump announced that he will be implementing widespread reciprocal tariffs on nearly all products imported into the U.S., which would seemingly include cigars and accessories, and which will quite likely make those products more expensive.

Trump is implementing a 10 percent baseline tariff on nearly all goods imported into the country from all countries with the exception of goods that are compliant with the USMCA free trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Additionally, a group of approximately 60 countries is facing additional reciprocal tariffs that were initially said to be half the rate they charge to the United States, though further analysis has suggested they were based on the country’s trade deficit divided by its exports to the United States. The administration eventually disclosed the basis for the calculations, which was in line with the suggestion.

 

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[MrBirdman]

One legal nuance I would note about the tariffs - expect a court battle. The current Supreme Court can be pretty shameless in applying different standards to an administration based on its political party - but the tariffs almost certainly exceed Trump’s authority under current jurisprudence. 

Two doctrines are relevant: “non-delegation” (a fairly well established doctrine that limits how much authority Congress can delegate to the executive) and “major-questions” (a doctrine the court made up in the 2010’s to overturn regulations they didn’t like). The law Trump cited for authority actually doesn’t even mention tariffs, it’s covers responses to “extraordinary and unusual threats.” The student loan forgiveness plan they overturned was on much more solid legal ground than this. 

Basically if they follow their own precedent they’ll throw the tariffs out. Unfortunately the one change least likely to be disturbed are those to the de minimis exemptions, since they directly touch on the fentanyl trade.