{"id":2186,"date":"2026-02-22T17:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T20:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/?p=2186"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:02:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T15:02:01","slug":"aranceles-emergencia-eeuu-retenciones-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/aranceles-emergencia-eeuu-retenciones-argentina\/","title":{"rendered":"When the tax returns to Congress: emergency tariffs in the U.S. and export duties in Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aranceles<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparative analysis based on the recent ruling of the United States Supreme Court and its parallel with Argentine doctrine on tax legality.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author:<\/strong> Dr. Andrea Zavatto
Date:<\/strong> February 22, 2026
Original publication:<\/strong> Mercojuris
\u00c1rea:<\/strong> International Trade \u00b7 Customs Law \u00b7 Taxation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling of the United States Supreme Court and the limits on emergency tariffs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On February 20, 2026, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump<\/em> que la International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)<\/strong> does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Twelve years earlier, the Argentine Supreme Court, in Camaronera Patag\u00f3nica S.A.<\/em>, had reaffirmed that export duties are taxes whose creation corresponds to Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although originating in different contexts, both precedents converge on the same institutional warning: when the Executive Branch attempts to base tax authority on broad or generic enabling provisions, the courts raise the same essential question: Where is the Act of Congress that precisely authorizes the tax?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tariffs, economic emergency, and the principle of statutory reservation in the United States<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. case arises in a context of massive tariffs imposed under an emergency declaration and defended solely on the basis of the IEEPA. The Court held that the power of \u201clay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises\u201d<\/em> pertenece al Congreso y que el verbo \u201cregulate\u201d<\/em> cannot be interpreted as synonymous with. \u201ctax\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, it required clear legislative authorization for what it characterized as a \u201cmajor decision\u201d of economic policy. Beyond internal methodological differences, the institutional message was clear: economic emergency, by itself, does not transform a regulatory power into a taxing power<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Camaronera Patag\u00f3nica\u201d and the principle of tax legality in Argentina<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Argentine controversy, although earlier and of a different nature, reveals a similar tension. In Camaronera Patag\u00f3nica S.A.<\/em>, the Supreme Court held that export duties set by ministerial resolution had an unequivocal tax nature<\/strong> and violated the principle of legality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even acknowledging the variability of the comercio exterior<\/a>the Court insisted that Congress must clearly define the essential elements of the tax, and may\u2014at most\u2014authorize the Executive Branch to adjust rates within parameters previously established by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constitutional convergences and limits on the taxing power<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A comparative reading reveals a significant conceptual convergence. In both systems, taxes are neither presumed nor inferred from broad clauses. In the United States, the Court is skeptical that Congress has \u201chidden\u201d tariff authority within an emergency statute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Argentina, even in the context of the dynamics of foreign trade, a complete legislative framework is required: taxable event, affected taxpayers, and applicable rate (or scale). Doctrinal differences do not alter the common core: the taxing power remains a stress test for the separation of powers.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical implications for international trade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This parallel is not coincidental. The Argentine Constitution of 1853 was designed under the influence of the United States model. The 1994 constitutional reform strengthened formal safeguards by prohibiting legislative delegation except in limited circumstances and by restricting necessity and urgency decrees in tax matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the United States, the ruling recalibrates the IEEPA as a tool for sanctions and economic control, but not as a mechanism to redesign general tariff policy without legislative intervention. In Argentina, Camaronera Patag\u00f3nica<\/em> it remains fully valid as a warning of legislative technique: invoking an emergency does not replace the principle of statutory reservation when taxes are at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, both precedents remind us that economic policy may require flexibility, but the power to tax demands explicit democratic legitimacy. When taxation \u201creturns\u201d to Congress, it is not a matter of formalism, but of the basic constitutional logic of representative systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Andrea Zavatto<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Attorney \u2013 Specialist in Customs Law, Foreign Exchange Law, and Legal Metrology
Director \u2013 MJE Comercio Exterior SRL
Consulting Partner \u2013 MJE Global (USA)
General Directorate \u2013 Dumping Experts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article originally published in Mercojuris. Reproduced with the author\u2019s authorization.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An\u00e1lisis comparado a partir del reciente fallo de la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos y su paralelismo con la […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[110],"class_list":["post-2186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comercio-exterior","tag-comercio-exterior"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aranceles-de-emergencia-en-EE.UU_.-y-retenciones-en-Argentina-\u2013-analisis-comparado.webp",1536,1024,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aranceles-de-emergencia-en-EE.UU_.-y-retenciones-en-Argentina-\u2013-analisis-comparado-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aranceles-de-emergencia-en-EE.UU_.-y-retenciones-en-Argentina-\u2013-analisis-comparado-300x200.webp",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aranceles-de-emergencia-en-EE.UU_.-y-retenciones-en-Argentina-\u2013-analisis-comparado-768x512.webp",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aranceles-de-emergencia-en-EE.UU_.-y-retenciones-en-Argentina-\u2013-analisis-comparado-1024x683.webp",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aranceles-de-emergencia-en-EE.UU_.-y-retenciones-en-Argentina-\u2013-analisis-comparado.webp",1536,1024,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aranceles-de-emergencia-en-EE.UU_.-y-retenciones-en-Argentina-\u2013-analisis-comparado.webp",1536,1024,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aranceles-de-emergencia-en-EE.UU_.-y-retenciones-en-Argentina-\u2013-analisis-comparado-18x12.webp",18,12,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Dra. Andrea Zavatto","author_link":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/author\/andrea-zavatto\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"An\u00e1lisis comparado a partir del reciente fallo de la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos y su paralelismo con la […]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2186"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2211,"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186\/revisions\/2211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjetulain.com.ar\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}