Last Friday bore witness to Donald Trump levying colossal universal tariffs in response to a worrisome employment report. This move resulted in market destabilization and once again needlessly escalated consumer prices, following weeks of seeming trade discussions. Mirroring his initial imposition of import duties announced on April 2nd, designated as ‘Liberation Day’, these tariffs are not only chaos-inducing and damaging, they are also unlawful. The President has chosen to leverage a 1977 legislation intended for targeted financial measures in specific emergency scenarios to manipulate global trade.
The day prior to these new tariffs coming into effect, the lawyers representing the administration were rigorously interrogated by the 11 judges that comprise the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington. The judges highlighted that the law does not even mention tariffs among other relevant details. The group of states and businesses taking legal action, have been provided with abundant material for their legal arguments from none other than Trump himself. His public speeches and social media postings are littered with open admissions of deploying tariffs for countless irrelevant reasons.
In the past, Trump has brandished tariffs as a weapon against Brazil’s internal legal actions against ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, and even Canada’s intention to acknowledge a Palestinian state, among other unrelated issues. These represent a diverse array of justifications, but they share a common link: they are ideological crusades possibly inspired by something Trump glimpsed on television. They bear no relation whatsoever to resolving a perceived trade deficit with these nations – a premise that is tenuous at best.
The U.S. Court of International Trade, located in Manhattan and specifically designed to specialize in such matters, has already overruled the majority of Trump’s tariff strategy on the grounds of illegality. Although this judgement has been held in suspension for the moment, an overwhelming accumulation of evidence continues to suggest that Trump is flagrantly overstepping his bounds.
Regrettably, even if this rampant madness were to be abruptly halted tomorrow, the aftermath of months of turmoil has left a lasting imprint on trade relations and diplomacy at large. The world, not willing to stand idle amidst U.S. turmoil, has already begun recalibrating elements of their manufacturing and trade strategies to evade dependence on a capricious United States. This situation will likely find its way to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, a familiar stage for issues of this magnitude.
The Supreme Court has exhibited a growing proclivity for siding with ideological leanings over the uniform application of the law, making the possibility of a pro-Trump verdict a farcical consideration. It is the same court that, just last year, decreed that Joe Biden’s attempt at alleviating student debt through invoking emergency powers amid the COVID pandemic – a genuine global catastrophe causing countless lives lost, an economic crash and unprecedented unemployment – was an overreach of authority.
Building upon the Supreme Court’s past ruling, it is baffling to consider that they might find Trump’s erratic alteration of tariff policies in service of arbitrary international political squabbles to be within his rights. If such a verdict were to be made, it would represent a damning indictment of the law’s current status. It is critical that we halt this descent into chaos at the earliest, before the reigns are forcibly taken over by economic mandates.
The post Mismanagement and Chaos: Trump’s Unlawful Tariffs Ignite Global Trade Tension appeared first on Real News Now.
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