In a recent social media post, former President Donald Trump signaled his ongoing commitment to increasing tariffs, despite a recent judicial decision limiting his authority. The announcement underscores his intention to continue using tariffs as a strategic tool in reshaping international trade and exerting global influence.
Tariffs have consistently been Trump’s preferred mechanism for altering global commerce dynamics and applying international pressure. On Friday, he expressed plans to impose temporary tariffs at a rate of 15 percent. Furthermore, he revealed his pursuit of additional tariffs through different sections of federal law, which necessitate an investigation by the Commerce Department.
On Saturday, Trump stated, “Over the next few months, the Trump Administration will identify and implement new, legally permissible tariffs, furthering our successful efforts to Make America Great Again.”
Following a Supreme Court ruling against him, decided by a 6-3 vote, Trump launched an unusually personal critique of the justices involved, including his own appointees, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. During a Friday news conference, he remarked that the decision was “an embarrassment to their families.”
After the Supreme Court decision, Trump made an unusually personal attack on the justices who ruled against him in a 6-3 vote, including two of those he appointed during his first term, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
Trump, at a news conference on Friday, said that the situation is “an embarrassment to their families.”
He was still seething on Friday night, posting on social media complaining about Gorsuch, Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, who ruled with the majority and wrote the majority opinion.
On Saturday morning, Trump issued another post declaring that his “new hero” was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote a 63-page dissent.
He also praised Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who were in the minority, and said of the three dissenting justices: “There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that they want to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Tariffs have been central to Trump’s economic policies, which he has said address a host of ills, from reviving trade imbalances and reviving US manufacturing to forcing other nations to action, whether it be stepping up efforts to combat drug trafficking or ceasing hostilities with each other.
He also regularly claimed despite evidence to the contrary that foreign governments would pay the tariffs, not American consumers and businesses.
Federal data shows the Treasury had collected more than $US133 billion ($187 billion) from the import taxes the president has imposed under the emergency powers law as of December, and Trump has made many promises about what that money might go toward, such as paying down the national debt and sending dividend checks to taxpayers.
The Supreme Court decision did not address what happens to the funds that have already been collected from tariffs.
Democrats spoke out quickly on Trump’s new tariff threat.
Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee accused Trump of “pickpocketing the American people” with his newly announced higher tariff.
“A little over 24 hours after his tariffs were ruled illegal, he’s doing anything he can to make sure he can still jack up your costs,” they wrote on social media.
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, a Trump nemesis, added that “he does not care about you.”
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