TRUMP’S TARIFFS Are Coming Unglued – Is Cornerstone Of Policy ILLEGAL?

Trump’s attempt to return America to the failed policies of the 1930’s has run into a wall.

The first test before a U.S. appeals court of the scope of his tariff authority has proved to be a disaster for Trump, threatening to unravel his global tariff policy – cornerstone of his leverage over the American economy.

Judges in an Appeals Court today were not impresses with the case from Trump’s lawyers and while they did not say when they would rule, the losing side will almost certainly appeal quickly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It was expected. Says the Peterson Institute For International Economics: “The US Constitution vests Congress with the power to apply tariffs. The nation's founders were very clear on this point: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect … Duties. . . . To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations." There is no mention in the Constitution of the president having any role over tariffs. The role of the president is to administer the laws that Congress passes.”

Attorney Neal Katyal characterized Trump’s maneuver as a “breathtaking” power grab that amounted to saying “the president can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, for as long as he wants so long as he declares an emergency.”

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) has just heard that Trump does NOT have the power to control tariffs.

The news hits the day before Trump’s new round of tariffs was supposed to go into effect. He has thus far exactly Zero agreements worked out with his trade partners.

No other president has done so, BTW, as they all recognize that the Constitution does not give them permission to impose tariffs.

But Trump, egged on by economic advisor Peter Navarro, who just proposed Trump’s nomination for a Nobel Prize in Economics (!), considered that he was a Special Case.

There is no argument that Trump is Special.

And Navarro was standing around doing nothing when Trump asked his son-in-law to find a new approach to economic policy during the 2024 election. Navarro came highly recommended by an expert who turned out to be…Navarro under an alias.

You can’t make this up.

The entire tariff push was created by a guy who did not know that “Services” were counted in international balance-of-payment calculations; America NEVER HAD a deficit.

But pushing tariffs allowed Trump to obtain another tax source over the American people.

So he could charge his billionaires less.

The stock market edged up at the good news of Trump’s defeat.

Companies like Ford, which lost money under his tariffs, are no doubt celebrating.

The continuing assumption that he has the power, comes from the mainstream media which has never questioned his assertion.

Twelve states however did not believe him; New York launched that suit against Trump’s theft of power. California and several other blue states also filed their own suits.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Democrats have now regained their advantage over the GOP in party affiliation, with a three percent lead. And Trump’s approval rating has sunk to 40%, the lowest of his term.

It all started with the flakey ‘emergency’ excuse about drug trafficking that Trump hobbled together to claim that he needed to control tariffs in the first place.

In fact, some people are asking themselves how Trump figures that he can close down drug trafficking by charging tariffs on carrots?

“If the president says there’s a problem with our military readiness,” Chief Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore posited, “and he puts a 20% tax on coffee, that doesn’t seem to necessarily deal with (it).”

Unfortunately for Trump, the disbelievers happen to include the judges on the Court of International Trade.

They did not agree – gasp! – that Trump could use emergency power to impose tariffs (aka new taxes on Americans).

Trump’s boys also argued that America faced a threat from payment deficits. As previously noted, these do not exist.

That emergency power does not authorize Trump to levy duties on imports. An earlier Federal courts also ruled this use of the IEEPA unconstitutional.

Here’s the striking thing for me: blindingly obvious as this conclusion is, did it not occur to ANY of Trump’s cabinet of curiosities that tariffs had nothing to do with drug smuggling?

Did NO ONE raise a hand around his table and say “Excuse me sir, but could you clarify that connection for me? The sea squirts in my aquarium had just eaten their own brains but they were asking.”

Trump went ahead and built up this entire global campaign with headlines and heart attacks and business distress, and he had no answer to that question.

It’s like his first term, when he paid people to attack the Capitol.

Back then not one media person that I can recall, ever asked the question out loud: “OK, Donald, what was to be your next step? How was all this supposed to overthrow the government and put you back in power? Was the crowd supposed to carry on and defeat the US Army?”

DONALD DOES NOT THINK THINGS THROUGH.

OK, perhaps that’s not a surprise to hear. But it keeps popping up, and people DO seem surprised.

He cheats at golf by having his caddie drop a ball in a favorable spot. He plays rounds that no one else can see. He knows it might be picked up at some point and he just doesn't care.

He’s never been made to pay for a mistake.

His brain is a twisted maze of illogic that keeps getting rewarded.

He falls asleep during his own trial or during visit to the pope, and no one holds it against him.

He makes sentences that string together total non-sequiturs. Here is his description of the “iron dome” missile defense system: “ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. They’ve only got 17 seconds to figure this whole thing out. Boom. OK. Missile launch. Whoosh. Boom.”

Make you feel safer?

He calls migrants animals. His defence of his relationship with Epstein pits his attorney general Bondi against his intelligence director Gabbard. Trump said the Epstein stories were being planted by former FBI director James Comey, by Barack Obama, by the Biden administration, by “Radical Left Democrats” and by “the Fake News”.

If it isn’t all clear to you now, you will also miss the clear connection between the purported emergency that Trump was using to justify the tariffs – drug trafficking - and what tariffs actually do.

Drugs such as fentanyl are seriously evil. Illegally manufactured fentanyl was responsible for 60% of US drug overdose deaths in the US. The fentanyl was filling the void left by the formerly legal prescription drug OxyContin. It was made and pushed out to innocent Americans by the Sackler family. Hundreds of thousands of Americans died. No member of the Sackler family faced jail time; they paid $6-billion to avoid it.

Trump is using his tariffs to try to achieve non-financial goals and to increase pressure on nontrade issues.

Trump imposed tariffs on Canada to restrict the flow of fentanyl.

Canada accounts for 0.08% of all fentanyl in the US.

Not eight percent.

Zero point eight percent.

But Donald says this is an emergency that requires a tariff on almost everything.

He hit Brazil with 50 percent tariffs over the prosecution of his friend former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

And he threatened Canada again over its move to recognise a Palestinian state, saying a trade deal will now be “very hard”.

And now he’s made headlines with his on-again, off-again tariffs that have drained the US economy.

Penn Wharton figures they reduced long-run GDP by about 6% and wages by 5%. A middle-income household faces a $22K lifetime loss.

Things that would cost Americans more after the tariff include clothing and footwear, coffee, olive oil and other food, beer, wine and spirits, cars, houses, and energy and fuel. This is a starter list.

The court’s active judges include eight appointed by Democratic presidents and three appointed by former Republican presidents.

As noted, the case will now be submitted to the Supreme Court, which in this instance is unlikely to rule in favor of Trump.

And then everything comes apart.

Thank you for following Barry’s Substack, focusing on the meaning behind the headlines. Each week a summary of a topical book helps full subscribers stay ahead of the conversation.

Next week will be THE GREAT CRYPTO ILLUSION -the hype, half-truths, and hidden manipulation fueling the digital gold rush.

Recent features have delved into:

PS - If you have enjoyed this article, please consider buying me a TACO!