The US Court of International Trade has blocked the effect of Trump’s tariffs. They were imposed bypassing Congress on the basis of the declared emergency regime in the trade sphere. Now all duties are cancelled, and the White house is forbidden to introduce new ones
In particular, the tariffs of 50% on European imports, postponed until July, may eventually be completely cancelled. Moreover, the judges demanded from the Trump administration to return all the funds collected from the tariffs, which during April amounted to about 250 billion dollars.
Another hole is forming in the US budget, and the debt market could surge again. Trump’s lawyers promise to appeal to the Supreme Court. There is a majority of Republican judges there, but it is not certain that they will side with Trump. After all, they are supporters of political tradition. And according to it, it is the prerogative of Congress to impose tariffs.
If the tariffs are eventually overturned by the court, it will make it very difficult to implement Trump’s plans to re-industrialise America. But markets will rise and the threat of recession will be cancelled out. At the same time, it will be necessary to conduct trade negotiations with other countries on more equal terms – since the tariff baton, which can always be used, is no longer in our hands.
Against this background, Ilon Musk’s formal resignation from the civil service was very symbolic. But his influence in the Trump team is unlikely to diminish. It was Musk who actively opposed all the unleashed tariff wars, which affected, among others, his international business. But the position of protectionist supporters among the most right-wing representatives of the MAGA movement has now been shaken.
