Every time Trump says tariffs will “save jobs,” he is not being an originalist. That’s not why the Founders wrote them into the Constitution. An originalist would know.
Trump is going to build a wall, a great big beautiful wall.
Of course tariffs are not unconstitutional. As long as they are duly passed by both the Senate and the House and then signed into law by the President.
TAX REFORM THAT WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
The following material is from a related thread and supports the material in the OP imo.
Not only were most of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention wealthy, but they put their money where their mouths were by committing themselves, and all other wealthy Americans, to uniquely pay the taxes needed to run the federal government. This is evidenced by the following excerpt from the writings of Thomas Jefferson.
“The rich alone use imported articles, and on these alone the whole taxes of the General Government are levied [emphasis added]. … Our revenues liberated by the discharge of the public debt, and its surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., the farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spend a cent from his earnings.” —Thomas Jefferson to Thaddeus Kosciusko, 1811.
But also consider that in the early days of the nation, state sovereignty-respecting justices had clarified that Congress is prohibited from appropriating taxes in the name of state power issues, essentially any issue that Congress cannot justify under its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers.
“Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
So I wouldn’t be surprised if rich people limited the federal taxes that they paid by policing Congress to tax and spend only for things that it could justify under its Section 8-limited powers.
But since rich people have evidently forgotten about Congress’s limited power to appropriate taxes, they are now probably bribing lawmakers to put loopholes into appropriations laws that benefit the rich.
The problem with bribing lawmakers is that lawmakers probably laugh all the way to the bank to deposit bribes for putting loopholes into appropriations bills that Congress cannot justify under Section 8.
Remember in November !
When patriots elect Trump, Cruz, or whatever conservative they elect, they need to also elect a new, state sovereignty-respecting Congress that will not only work within its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers to support the new president, but also protect the states from unconstitutional federal government overreach, putting a stop to unconstitutional federal taxes for example.
Also, consider that such a Congress would probably be willing to fire state sovereignty-ignoring activist justices.
If I’m the CEO of John Deere do I want a tariff on anything?