Bloomberg Talks Dartmouth's Douglas Irwin Talks Blanket Tariffs
Feb 24, 2026
Douglas Irwin, Dartmouth economics professor and trade-policy historian, offers a concise take on the unfolding U.S. tariff strategy. He discusses legal fights over new tariff authority, who ultimately pays for tariffs, political risks for lawmakers, how China might respond, and the broader effects of trade frictions on technology and alliances.
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Legal Statutory Limits Create Tariff Uncertainty
- New tariffs tied to balance-of-payments statutes face legal uncertainty because floating exchange rates make 'disequilibrium' unclear.
- Irwin notes the 150-day limit triggers a congressional approval requirement that creates short-term instability.
Postwar Delegation Enabled Tariff Decline Then Reversal
- Post-WWII U.S. trade policy moved from Congress setting tariffs to delegating authority to presidents who negotiated tariff reductions.
- Irwin contrasts that long decline in tariffs with the Trump-era reversal using presidential authorities to raise them.
Tariffs Mostly Land On U.S. Buyers
- Most empirical studies find about 90% of recent U.S. tariffs are passed through to domestic purchasers.
- Irwin cites the New York Fed and multiple replication studies showing importers largely shift costs onto U.S. businesses and consumers.
