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As the title states: Does not accepting deportees constitute enough of a threat to the USA that POTUS can use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs?

This stems off the related question: What would be the legal mechanism for President Trump to impose a tariff on Colombia?

The IEEPA states:

(a)Any authority granted to the President by section 1702 of this title may be exercised to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.

(b)The authorities granted to the President by section 1702 of this title may only be exercised to deal with an unusual and extraordinary threat with respect to which a national emergency has been declared for purposes of this chapter and may not be exercised for any other purpose. Any exercise of such authorities to deal with any new threat shall be based on a new declaration of national emergency which must be with respect to such threat.

The above is what's referenced from Wikipedia as for reasoning behind using the IEEPA. This Wiki page lists current and past uses of the IEEPA, and neither deportees nor immigrants have been used as a reason previously, so there's no precedent for it. Trump threatened to use it in 2019 for immigration, but didn't.

In the recent instance of Trump imposing tariffs and other sanctions on Colombia, as a secondary question, is it actually legal for him to do so? The deportees weren't terrorists or even criminals, so weren't a direct threat to the country. The economic impact of those deportees is disputed heavily as to whether undocumented immigrants are bad for the economy. And they have no obvious effect on foreign policy beyond Colombian President Gustavo Petro not wanting unwelcome US military aircraft in his airspace.

I'm not asking if Congress or the Supreme Court would uphold the tariffs and sanctions, or if there could possibly be lawsuits stemming from this situation. I'm asking if the letter of the law, as stated in the law, would actually allow enacting the IEEPA if a foreign country refused accepting deportees?

Laurel
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computercarguy
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1 Answers1

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I'm asking if the letter of the law, as stated in the law, would actually allow enacting the IEEPA if a foreign country refused accepting deportees?

It would if the administration could identify an "unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States" to which the president has declared "a national emergency with respect to such threat" and could show how the exercise of authority under the act "deals with" the identified threat. If the question is being considered in court, then the answer would only be "yes" if the court were to accept the administration's argument.

This is somewhat vague. Laws often are vague, even intentionally so, which is why there are judges.

I'm not asking if Congress or the Supreme Court would uphold the tariffs and sanctions...

Unfortunately, many legal questions can't be answered generally in the abstract. The only way you'll get an answer for any specific case is by having a court determine the relevant facts.

Having said that, I don't see anything in the relevant section (1702) that authorizes the imposition of tariffs, in which case the answer is in fact "no."

phoog
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