Example Image
Civitas Outlook
Topic
Economic Dynamism
Published on
Mar 27, 2025
Contributors
Michael Toth
Photo by Guillaume Périgois on Unsplash,

Congress Must Shield US Companies from European Regulations

Contributors
Michael Toth
Michael Toth
Research Director
Michael Toth
Summary
Congress should exercise its constitutional powers over foreign commerce to guard American companies against overregulation by the European Union.
Summary
Congress should exercise its constitutional powers over foreign commerce to guard American companies against overregulation by the European Union.
Listen to this article

The Trump administration’s tariffs and the ensuing debates have diverted attention from the fact that regulating international trade is the role of Congress. After all, tariffs are taxes, and it’s a bedrock principle of U.S. law that taxation requires legislation.

The Framers made this point clear when they granted Congress the power to impose “imposts” and “duties” — meaning tariffs — to regulate external commerce.

Fortunately, Congress is starting to exercise its constitutional powers over foreign commerce again. On March 12, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) — a former U.S. ambassador to Japan — introduced a bill to shield U.S. companies from the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, a regulation dating back to July 2024 that forces U.S. companies to audit their entire supply chains and disclose wide-ranging environmental, social, and governance or ESG metrics that exceed the requirements of U.S. law.

Continue reading at The Hill

10:13
1x
10:13
More articles

Waging Municipal Lawfare

Constitutionalism
Oct 23, 2025

What Game Are We Playing?

Constitutionalism
Oct 23, 2025
View all

Join the newsletter

Receive new publications, news, and updates from the Civitas Institute.

Sign up
More on

Economic Dynamism

The Causal Effect of News on Inflation Expectations

This paper studies the response of household inflation expectations to television news coverage of inflation.

Carola Binder, Pascal Frank, Jane M. Ryngaert
Economic Dynamism
Aug 22, 2025
The Rise of Inflation Targeting

This paper discusses the interactions between politics and economic ideas leading to the adoption of inflation targeting in the United States.

Carola Binder
Economic Dynamism
Aug 11, 2025
AI and the Future of Society and Economy

Large language and generative AI models like ChatGPT are the equivalent of the first automobiles: fun to play with, somewhat unreliable, and maybe a little dangerous. But over time, the lesson for will be clear: Who Learns Fastest, Wins.

Joel Kotkin, Marshall Toplansky
Economic Dynamism
Jul 17, 2025
Automated Detection of Emotion in Central Bank Communication: A Warning

Can LLMs help us better understand the role of emotion in central bank communication?

Carola Binder, Nicole Baerg
Economic Dynamism
Jul 1, 2025
No items found.
Ignore 'Open Letters' From Economists

Don’t be swayed by “open” letters signed by well-known and well-respected scholars, experts, professors, and businessmen.

Charity-Joy Acchiardo, Dirk Mateer & Brian O'Roark
Economic Dynamism
Sep 23, 2025
Demystifying the New Deal

Carola Binder reviews False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 by George Selgin

Carola Binder
Economic Dynamism
Sep 5, 2025
Why Is California Losing Good Jobs to Other States? It’s Not Rocket Science

The system that made California dynamic and prosperous for so long is now broken and backward-looking

Joel Kotkin
Economic Dynamism
Sep 4, 2025
Trump’s Factory Revival Is Happening

Think what you will of President Trump’s chaotic-seeming tariff policies. The ostensible goal — the revitalization of US manufacturing — is of decisive importance for the success of the nation.

Joel Kotkin
Economic Dynamism
Sep 4, 2025

Unlocking Housing Supply: Market-Driven Solutions for Growing Communities

Economic Dynamism
Sep 30, 2025
1:05

Trump’s Tariff-for-Income-Tax Swap

Economic Dynamism
Aug 21, 2025
1:05

Why the Damage to Fed Independence May Have Already Been Done

Economic Dynamism
Jul 24, 2025
1:05

Richard Epstein: Law and Economics of Public Sector Unions

Economic Dynamism
Jun 19, 2025
1:05

Can the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Meet Today’s Challenges?

Economic Dynamism
May 13, 2025
1:05
No items found.
No items found.
Trump's Industrial Policies Will Strangle Growth

The public should doubt that the feds can run the nation’s businesses. 

Richard Epstein
Economic Dynamism
Oct 22, 2025
The Reign of the Greenback

The dollar is the world's overwhelmingly dominant currency, but it suffers from endemic consumer price inflation and recurring asset price inflation.

Alex J. Pollock
Economic Dynamism
Oct 16, 2025
Don’t Choose Your Own Adventure: Understanding Middle-Class Earnings Trends

Measuring these trends is complicated, but the results of wage gains are encouraging.

Scott Winship
Economic Dynamism
Oct 15, 2025
The Tariff Debacle Is Renewed

Trump adopts a novel version of the “unitary executive” theory that allows him first to declare the emergency and then prescribe the remedy for it, all without either judicial oversight or Congressional authorization.

Richard Epstein
Economic Dynamism
Oct 15, 2025
No items found.