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Executive Order 13908 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.52) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 13908—Establishment of the Interagency Committee on Trade in Automotive Goods Under Section 202A of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act

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Friday, February 28, 2020
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3 min read (620 words)
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85 Fed. Reg. 12983

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (620 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Committee shall be composed of the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the Chairman of the United States International Trade Commission, and the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Department of Homeland Security.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Donald J. Trump (1st Term) on February 28, 2020, this order concerns Establishment of the Interagency Committee on Trade in Automotive Goods Under Section 202A of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act. The Interagency Committee on Trade in Automotive Goods (Committee) is hereby established to provide advice, as appropriate, on the implementation, enforcement, and modification of provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (Agreement) that relate to automotive goods, including the automotive rules of origin and the alternative staging regime that are part of such rules.

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Membership

The Committee shall be composed of the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the Chairman of the United States International Trade Commission, and the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Department of Homeland Security.

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Committee Decision-making

The Committee shall endeavor to make any recommendation on an action or determination under section 202A of the Act by consensus, which shall be deemed to exist where no Committee member objects to the proposed action or determination.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
36 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
620
3,943 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18.3
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.52
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and section 202A of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (Act) (Public Law 116-113), it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1 . #sec-1

Establishment of Interagency Committee . The Interagency Committee on Trade in Automotive Goods (Committee) is hereby established to provide advice, as appropriate, on the implementation, enforcement, and modification of provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (Agreement) that relate to automotive goods, including the automotive rules of origin and the alternative staging regime that are part of such rules. The Committee shall also review the operation of the Agreement with respect to trade in automotive goods, including the economic effects of the automotive rules of origin on the United States economy, workers, and consumers, and the impact of new technology on such rules.

Sec. 2 . #sec-2

Membership . The Committee shall be composed of the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the Chairman of the United States International Trade Commission, and the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Department of Homeland Security. Members of the Committee may designate an officer of the United States within their respective executive department, agency, or component to serve as their representative on the Committee. The USTR shall serve as Chair of the Committee. The USTR may invite representatives from other executive departments or agencies, as the USTR determines are necessary, to participate as members or observers, and shall include the Secretary of the Treasury as a member of the Committee. Each executive department, agency, and component represented on the Committee shall ensure that the necessary staff are available to assist in performing the responsibilities of the Committee.

Sec. 3 . #sec-3

Committee Decision-making . The Committee shall endeavor to make any recommendation on an action or determination under section 202A of the Act by consensus, which shall be deemed to exist where no Committee member objects to the proposed action or determination. If the Committee is unable to reach a consensus on a proposed action or determination, the Committee may decide the matter by majority vote of its members if the Chair determines that allotting further time will unduly delay implementation of provisions of the Agreement that relate to automotive goods. The Chair, in addition to voting, may also break any tie vote.

Sec. 4 . #sec-4

Implementing Measures . The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Labor, and the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, are directed to issue, in consultation with the USTR (and with each other, as directed in the Act), such regulations and other measures as are necessary or appropriate to implement section 202A of the Act.

Sec. 5 . #sec-5

General Provisions . (a) Each executive department and agency shall bear its own expenses incurred in connection with the Committee's functions described in section 202A of the Act. (b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (c) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. DONALD J. TRUMP The White House, February 28, 2020.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,908, 85 Fed. Reg. 12,983 (Feb. 28, 2020).