Trump pledges ‘obnoxious’ new tariffs

Bart Jansen

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump vowed to impose new “obnoxious” tariffs after the Supreme Court overturned his signature economic policy, teasing more measures and different tools that he can use.

“The court has also approved all other Tariffs, of which there are many, and they can all be used in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used,” Trump said Feb. 23 on social media.

The post was Trump’s latest salvo against the Supreme Court, where two of the three justices he appointed – Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett – voted against him. He praised the three conservative justices – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh – who opposed the court’s decision and sided with him.

“Our incompetent supreme court did a great job for the wrong people, and for that they should be ashamed of

themselves (but not the Great Three!),” Trump wrote.

Trump outlined his options, as he had in his initial news conference after the decision, to impose different limits on imports as a way to generate money for the government, persuade companies to relocate manufacturing to the United States and pressure countries to change their policies.

The European Union is poised to freeze the ratification process of its trade deal with the United States, which was negotiated under the threat of the emergency tariffs that were overturned. Zeljana Zovko, the lead trade negotiator in the European People’s Party group on the U.S. deal, told Bloomberg News the EU has “no other option”but to delay the approval process to seek clarity on the situation.

Doubts about the future of trade prompted the prices of soybeans, wheat and corn to fall on the Chicago Board of Trade on Feb. 23.

Trump argued he still wielded plenty of firepower over trade.

“As President, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of Tariffs,” Trump said in another social media post Feb. 23. “It has already been gotten, in many forms, a long time ago! They were also just reaffirmed by the ridiculous and poorly crafted supreme court decision!”

The high court ruled Feb. 20 that Congress hadn’t granted Trump the authority to impose tariffs on countries worldwide under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. But Trump immediately imposed15% global temporary tariffs under the 1974 Trade Act. The Supreme Court’s decision noted the emergency statute allows Trump to license imports, which would limit or block them entirely. Trump said he could impose licenses that do “terrible” things to foreign countries, especially those countries “that have been RIPPING US OFF for many decades.”

Contributing: Reuters