As President Trump wields his tariff sword at friend and foe, Congress has been struggling to restore a check on his unilateral whim. The latest idea would put the Pentagon in charge of deciding when imports threaten national security. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to regulate foreign trade. But with Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Congress ceded to Presidents the power to impose tariffs when the Commerce Department decides that imports harm U.S. security. Presidents Nixon and Ford used the...

Source: Wall Street Journal August 26, 2018 19:30 UTC