What Trump’s Tariff Defeat Means for His Trade War—and Consumers
We take stock of what the president promised, what actually happened and what the future looks like now that the Supreme Court has brought its gavel down.
Photo illustration: Yuka Aramaki
In the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling that his use of an emergency statute to prosecute a global trade war was illegal, Donald Trump turned to other federal laws to achieve his ends. He quickly announced a 10% global tariff on foreign goods, with plans to raise it to 15%, albeit subject to a 150 day-limit unless Congress approves it. Like Trump’s previous strategy, this latest effort is both novel and vulnerable to legal challenge. Meanwhile, the US president’s scramble to maintain his leverage has thrown global trade into further turmoil.
But the Republican’s defeat at the hands of a usually friendly court raises another question: Just what has Trump’s year-long effort to use tariffs as an economic and geopolitical cudgel accomplished? In this Bloomberg Originals documentary, we look at what the American trade war has wrought, as well as what the future holds for the US businesses and consumers who—as it turns out—have been paying for it.