International Business Law

International Business Law Exam 2

Chapter 8

Separation of Powers

The President gets his powers to regulate trade from his inherent executive power which allows him to conduct foreign affairs, appoint ambassadors, receive foreign ambassadors and act as commanding-in-chief of the armed forces. The power also stems from the treaty power and delegated powers from congress.

Inherent powers refer to those expressly stated in the constitution or found to be there by judicial interpretation.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube v Sawyer:

US at War in Korea, US workers striking over wages and collective bargaining agreements. US president made every attempt to intervene because a strike would disrupt steel supply so Truman sent the troops in as commander-in-chief to keep the factories open. The District Court imposed an injunction against President Truman, the Court of Appeal also agreed.

The Supreme Court agreed with the lower court’s decision stating that the President wasn’t acting pursuant to the powers delegated by Congress and that he couldn’t take personal property during wartime.

Hamdan v Rumsfield Case:

US military arrested Hamdan, a driver for Bin Laden; he was not involved in any of the terrorist activities. President Bush, used his “powers” to commission Guantanamo Bay, which was heavily criticized as out of his scope of power and excessive where tribunals would have been much more effective. It was also stated that they felt that the powers the President were using was going against the separation of powers.

Executive-Legislative Debate:

One advantage of giving power to the executive branch is that it allows the nation to speak with one voice in international affairs.

When the executive branch has too much power and no regulation the President has the free will to make any chance he likes which is not always good. So no regulation by Congress would be a disadvantage.

Another disadvantage is that a lot of things won’t be done due to the constant bickering.

The Congress:

If all 50 states had the power to regulate their own commerce they will be motivated by their local interest which may interrupt free trade within the nation and also cause a nation divided.

The Treaty Power:

It must be agreed upon by the President and two-thirds of the Congress to be ratified. Treaties are important in regulating trade between the nations it also helps in the ever-growing world and interdependence it is causing. To resolve all the problems brought on by interdependence nations need to cooperate.

A convention is also regarded as a treaty and is the law of the land.

The Equal Dignity Rule is a self-executing treaty and has the same legal effect as statutes passed by both houses of Congress.

The difference between a Treaty and Executive Agreement is that with Executive Agreements the President doesn’t need to get the Congress to ratify the treaty.

MacNamara v KAL.

MacNamara sued KAL his former employer for discrimination under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act 1964 and the US Age Discrimination Act. MacNamara, an American…