Trump’s new tariffs may boost his ego – but they’ll damage the economy | Steven Greenhouse

2 hours ago 1

After the US supreme court overturned Donald Trump’s global tariffs, he had two options: do what’s best for the US economy or do what’s best for his ego. Trump of course chose what’s best for his ego, and he did that by seizing on a never previously used legal provision to impose new tariffs that Trump – who can never admit defeat – insists will be just as good as the overturned tariffs.

Unfortunately, Trump’s decision to create a whole new set of tariffs will be bad for both the US economy and the world economy. When one cuts through Trump’s delusional poppycock about how great his new tariffs will be, it becomes clear that his new 15% across-the-board tariff will hurt consumers, corporations, factories, US trading partners and Trump’s beloved stock market. While Trump says “tariffs” is “the most beautiful word”, economists, business executives and consumers give Trump’s tariffs a thumbs down. A huge 64% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of tariffs, according to a new ABC News/WashingtonPost/Ipsos poll.

Trump’s new tariffs created a daunting new wave of uncertainty and anxiety that will hurt economic growth, just like Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs created huge uncertainty that weakened GDP growth in the US and overseas. For most of corporate America, this Trump-induced uncertainty will cause hesitation and even some paralysis that will hurt the economy and jobs as companies think twice about proceeding with plans to build new plants or hire more workers.

Even though Trump never stops claiming that his tariffs are great for US manufacturing, his tariffs caused serious problems for many US manufacturers. Factory employment fell by a dismaying 108,000 jobs last year, while many manufacturers complained that Trump’s tariffs raised their costs, gummed up their supply chains and hurt their competitiveness. The Ford Motor Company, for instance, said it paid nearly $2bn in tariffs last year for parts and raw materials.

Trump keeps blathering that tariffs will make America great again, but economists emphatically disagree. “The whole uncertainty of tariff policy is really not favorable for employment or investment,” Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a trade economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told the Wall Street Journal. “The temptation to postpone business decisions will be very strong.”

The new 15% tariff is due to last 150 days, and upping all the uncertainty, Trump has indicated he aims to replace it with lots of new tariffs on specific products – which ones we do not know yet. Adding to the uncertainty, many legal experts and economists argue that the federal courts should immediately suspend or overturn Trump’s new tariffs because, they say, the tariffs have no legal basis. In imposing the 15% tariff, Trump became the first president to invoke Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That section lets presidents impose tariffs when “fundamental international payments problems” require it – specifically when badly out-of-whack financial flows threaten a collapse of the dollar.

Right now, however, the US in no way faces a “fundamental” balance of payments problem that threatens the dollar. True, the US has had a large trade deficit for decades, but huge capital inflows have continued to pour in, thanks to foreign investors. As a result, there’s no balance of payments crisis and nothing – except for Trump’s desperate addiction to tariffs – that would justify invoking section 122 to impose tariffs.

Just like Trump’s old tariffs, his new ones won’t be a picnic for US consumers. Remembering candidate Trump’s vow to cut prices on day one, inflation-weary Americans dislike Trump’s tariffs because they raised prices on so many products, including coffee, clothes and furniture. Trump’s tariffs have also taken a sizable bite out of people’s finances. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimates that in 2025 , Trump’s levies on imports “amounted to an average tax increase per US household of $1,000”. The Yale Budget Lab says his new tariffs will increase inflation between 0.5% and 0.6%, and cost households $600 to $800 on average.

Imagine if Trump were not so pathologically averse to admitting loss. Imagine if his psyche were strong enough to be able to accept defeat and imagine that immediately after the supreme court overturned his tariffs, he declared: “OK, after that thumbs down, I’m not going to reimpose tariffs for the rest of my term.” Consumers would have rejoiced because his tariffs had been pushing up prices. Corporations would have celebrated because there’d be no more tariff-induced uncertainty. The stock market would have jumped skyward because an end to tariffs would reduce the uncertainty that investors detest, boost corporate profits and improve trade and diplomatic relations that Trump has so severely damaged.

The new 15% tariff will be a big negative for the US’s relations with other countries. The UK, Australia and other countries that managed to negotiate low tariffs with Trump are justifiably upset that Trump is now canceling those tariffs and jamming a higher 15% tariff down their throats. At the same time, Trump is threatening the 27-nation European Union because it is rethinking whether to ratify the trade deal it reached with Trump under his old, now-overturned tariff scheme. Angering other countries, Trump is seeking to strongarm many into continuing the tariff deals reached under his now null-and-void tariff regime.

The bullying, blustering president wrote on Truth Social: “Any Country that wants to ‘play games’ with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have ‘Ripped Off’ the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to. BUYER BEWARE!!!”

Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s international trade committee, bemoaned the Trump-created mess. “Pure tariff chaos on the part of the US government,” Lange wrote on social media. “No one can make sense of it anymore – only unanswered questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other US trading partners.”

As Trump’s new tariffs sabotage economic growth, fuel inflation, cut jobs and worsen relations with other countries, we can unfortunately be sure of one thing: Trump will spew evermore lies that his tariffs are creating the greatest economy ever. Every American should see through these lies and delusions because tens of millions of Americans will feel real pain from Trump’s tariffs – pain from higher prices and pain from paying $600-$800 extra for Trump’s new tariffs.

Trump’s replacement tariffs may please his colossal ego, but they will pummel and punish millions and millions of typical Americans.