The Free-Market Revolt Against Trump’s Tariffs

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INTERVIEW ON THE PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW, MEDIA PARTNER OF THIS SITE.

Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed Phil Magness.

On a recent Price of Business, Host Kevin Price visited with Dr. Phil Magness of the Independent Institute.

For years, Republicans have defined themselves as the party of limited government and free markets. Yet today, some of the loudest voices challenging President Trump’s tariff policies are precisely those traditional Republican allies—conservative scholars, libertarian think tanks, small business advocates, and even major trade groups that usually find common cause with the right.

Their argument is simple but powerful: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law written in the late 1970s, was never meant to give the president a blank check to slap tariffs on any country, for any reason, indefinitely. If the government can point to a trade imbalance and suddenly declare an “emergency,” then there’s no real limit left on executive power. That’s not just bad economics, it’s a dangerous precedent for the Constitution.

What makes this moment striking is the lineup. These aren’t progressive critics taking shots at Trump from the left. They are economists who have long championed free markets. They are business organizations that have consistently supported Republican policies. They are constitutional scholars who have spent decades warning against the expansion of executive authority. In short, the coalition pushing back looks a lot like the GOP’s intellectual base.

This puts Republicans in a bind. Do they stand with the president and accept sweeping executive control over trade? Or do they stand with their own small-government principles and say that if tariffs are needed, Congress—not the White House—should authorize them?

The irony is hard to miss. For decades, Republicans warned about Democratic presidents stretching executive power too far. Now, many of the same voices are sounding the alarm about a Republican president doing exactly that. The battle over tariffs may end up being less about economics and more about whether the GOP still believes in the constitutional limits it once championed.