War and Trade War

July 24, 2026
Vol. 15, No. 2333

TRADE WAR: Always clever about finding a way to have his way, new tariffs that President Trump decided to impose upon 80 countries went into effect overnight, citing a little-known clause in a 1974 law that allows the president to impose tariffs on countries that engage in unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices.

The tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent went into effect just as a previous tariff of 10 percent expired.

In this case the administration is citing the failure of countries to pass or enforce laws banning the importation of goods into their own countries made by forced labor, saying that puts US businesses at a disadvantage.

It’s clear that Trump believes tariffs will protect American business and he is determined to impose them despite going all the way to the Supreme Court on this issue and losing. Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown law school and former Biden administration official, told The NY Times, “They are showing that on tariffs, they can kind of run faster than the courts will, and they’re going to force the courts to keep playing catch up.”