Axios has obtained a leaked draft of a Trump administration bill — ordered by the president himself — that would declare America's abandonment of fundamental World Trade Organization rules.So, this is quite terrible, in an increasingly familiar way; that is, Trump seeking to expand and consolidate his power and turn the presidency into an unchecked dictatorship.
Why it matters: The draft legislation is stunning. The bill essentially provides Trump a license to raise U.S. tariffs at will, without congressional consent and international rules be damned.
The details: The bill, titled the "United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act," would give Trump unilateral power to ignore the two most basic principles of the WTO and negotiate one-on-one with any country:
1. The "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) principle that countries can't set different tariff rates for different countries outside of free trade agreements;
2. "Bound tariff rates" — the tariff ceilings that each WTO country has already agreed to in previous negotiations.
"It would be the equivalent of walking away from the WTO and our commitments there without us actually notifying our withdrawal," said a source familiar with the bill.
And, again, doing so around an economic policy that would be disastrous for average working U.S. Americans.
Because our president is a disloyal scoundrel who doesn't GAF about We the People.
Which makes it perfect, I guess, that the "United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act" abbreviates to the U.S. FART Act.
For fuck's sake.
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