New Wrapper, Same Rotten Policy

These latest tariffs may pass muster with the courts, but will still fail our country

The Trump administration just announced a new set of sweeping tariffs on 80 countries, just in time to replace the current “balance of payments” tariffs that are set to expire at midnight tonight.

We knew these were coming — I made a video explaining them a little over a month ago, and sent it out in a newsletter. (One caveat: the video mentions 60 economies. With the EU treated as one economy, you wind with more than 80 countries affected. Either way, these tariffs encompass upwards of 99% of all U.S. imports.)

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This third attempt at tariffs is somewhat likely to survive — not because it’s smarter or more principled, but because it comes wrapped in a process that courts are more likely to tolerate. But they will fail to deliver for the American people.

The Administration may have gotten the law right, but they still got the economics wrong. Indeed, this latest approach to tariffs may deliver even less than previous (illegal, unconstitutional) attempts at tariffs.

And to my platypals: You knew all of this was coming because we predicted almost every element six weeks ago. So if you want to be the best-informed person at the water cooler, go back and have a look at that earlier piece, because it holds up almost perfectly.