After Supreme Court Kills Tariffs, Trump Plots '15% Tax Out of YOUR Pockets to Feed HIS Deranged Ego'
"In a Saturday morning Truth Social post, Trump said:"
"Based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on tariffs issued yesterday, after MANY months of contemplation, by the United States Supreme Court, please let this statement serve to represent that I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been ‘ripping’ the US off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level. During the next short number of months, the Trump Administration will determine and issue the new and legally permissible Tariffs, which will continue our extraordinarily successful process of Making America Great Again GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter."
"Critics across the country swiftly blasted the announcement. Democratic strategist Jon Cooper argued that 'Trump CANNOT legally impose a 15% global tariff because the US doesn’t meet the clear emergency economic conditions envisioned by Section 122. If Trump tries to invoke it, it would certainly face immediate legal challenges, economic pushback, and potential congressional scrutiny.' "
"Former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer declared that 'Donald Trump is a gangster with no respect for the rule of law and no understanding of economics. This is a 15% tax out of YOUR pockets to feed HIS deranged ego.' "
"California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s expected to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, similarly said that 'Donald Trump just announced a NEW 15% TAX on the American people. He does not care about you.' "
Continued at link:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-15-tariffs
= new reply since forum marked as read
Has it really only been a year? 
REALLY?
Section 122 tariffs can only be used when there is a balance of payments deficit which does NOT exist. Someone did not read the statute before letting trump try this executive order
Trump’s plan B to impose new tariffs is also illegal because a balance-of-payments deficit doesn’t exist, trade experts say fortune.com/2026/02/21/t...
— Ian Kremer (@leadcoalition.bsky.social) 2026-02-22T19:12:07.516Z
#tariffs #economics #economy #law #SCOTUS
https://fortune.com/2026/02/21/trump-tariffs-section-122-trade-law-trade-deficit-capital-account-surplus-balance-of-payments/
But the actual language of the Trade Act lists requirements that don’t exist today, including a “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficit.
While the U.S. has run a trade deficit for decades, it’s been offset by capital inflows as foreign investors pour billions into financial markets, resulting in a net balance of zero.
“Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, on which Trump’s 10% tariff is based, does not apply in the current macro environment,” said Peter Berezin, chief global strategist at BCA Research, in post on X on Friday. “A balance of payments deficit is not the same thing as a trade deficit. You cannot have a balance of payments [deficit] if you have a flexible exchange rate, as the US currently does.”
Similarly, economist Alan Reynolds, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, pointed out that the trade deficit is fully funded by the capital account surplus, adding that there is no overall balance-of-payments deficit to justify Trump’s newest tax on imports.....
“Section 122 only authorizes tariffs in the presence of a fundamental international payments problem,” he added. “Because the United States does not face such a problem, Section 122 cannot legally be used by President Trump to impose new tariffs.”