Trump, still seething over the Supreme Court decision, thumps his chest.
Trump on Truth Social
Truth Social Link: 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 U.S. 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. President DONALD J. TRUMP
Trump Presses Ahead With Stupidity
The New York Times reports Trump Says He Will Raise Global Tariff to 15 Percent
President Trump announced on Saturday that he would raise his new, global tariff to 15 percent, a day after he took steps to replicate some of the punishing duties that had been struck down by the Supreme Court.
Mr. Trump announced the change in a post on social media, and said the policy would take effect immediately, as he signaled that he would press ahead with his trade war despite a major legal setback.
For some countries, Mr. Trump’s new 15 percent tariff may actually be higher than the rates that previously applied to their exports to the United States. Those tariffs were invalidated on Friday, after a majority of the court’s justices found that the president did not have the authority to issue them using a set of emergency powers.
Mr. Trump previously set his replacement global rate at 10 percent, using a provision in a law — never before invoked by a president — that allows him to impose an across-the-board tariff for 150 days unless Congress agrees to extend it. The statute caps the rate at 15 percent, though Mr. Trump has signaled he plans to use other trade provisions to continue raising taxes on imports.
The ruling extends a period of uncertainty for companies and countries that have tried to cope with the president’s aggressive and fluctuating tariff threats. The Trump administration used the threat of tariffs to force other countries to reach trade agreements with the United States. Mr. Trump has warned other nations that they should stick to trade deals they negotiated over the past year, or risk being hit with new tariffs.
But the sudden removal of his emergency tariffs, which had encouraged other governments to make trade concessions to the United States, is still likely to raise doubts among foreign leaders about whether to keep the deals they agreed to.
The Trump administration has indicated that it will use other legal authorities, like Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, to impose tariffs on countries individually based on their trade practices. But those investigations will take time to prepare.
At least temporarily, exports from all countries will now face a 15 percent tariff rate, regardless of their trade practices, or the concessions they have made. Some trade experts said that those rates could end up benefiting lower-cost producers in places like China and other Asian nations, whose goods would be relatively cheap even after a 15 percent tariff rate.
The new global tariff does not apply universally. Mr. Trump moved late Friday to carve out certain products, including beef and other agricultural products, which he had previously spared from the steepest import taxes to keep prices from rising.
Nor will the new rate affect goods like foreign autos and steel, which are already subject to tariffs imposed on national security grounds. Mr. Trump preserved a policy that upholds the terms of a trade deal he previously brokered with Canada and Mexico, allowing imports covered by the pact to remain tariff free. He also added some new exemptions to the tariffs — for example, for Central American countries included in a trade deal signed in 2004.
Nothing Wrong With Tariffs Except
“There is nothing wrong with tariffs other than they are a tax on consumers, create job losses, destroy small businesses and are economically stupid. Hope that helps.”
Milton Freidman
Please play the clip. It is both amusing and correct.
Reaction Monday?
The market reaction will be interesting on Monday.
Since tariffs are a tax on US consumers and recessionary as well, I expect a positive reaction from the bond market and a negative one from stocks,
We will see.
Related Posts
February 19, 2026: Trade Deficit Surges in December, Full Year Deficit Hits a New Record
Trump’s claim of reducing the trade deficit by 78 percent dramatically blows up.
February 20, 2026: GDP Slows Dramatically in 2025 Q4 to 1.4 Percent, Big Disappointment
Trump blames the government shutdown and Powell for the slowdown.
February 20, 2026: Supreme Court Strikes Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs In 6-3 Vote (I Told You So)
February 21, 2026: Trump Calls Supreme Court “Fools and Lap Dogs”
The irony is Trump precisely wants fools and lap dogs.
God forbid you people reach out to your neighbors and pick one decent person among you to run as an independent for your House district. No. Instead, wait for the oligarchs to design a menu for you where you get to pick between shit on wheat or shit on rye.
Uh, yeah, I’m bitter. Been begging people all my life not to vote uniparty. Finally packed up and left the country. But I need social security. At this rate, I’ll be eating cat food sometime in my life, because the scumbags most of you elect keep spending more on war and have already passed legislation to cut social security (25% in 2032 IIRC) to partially pay for it and will surely devalue the purchasing power through more of the same.
Blaming those around you is sure to fix your wagon if you do enough of it
A global, flat tariff neuters the Cappo’s bludgeon to coerce other countries. It makes nations like Brazil and Canada vindicated for standing tall, while the EU and the UK groveled to be slapped with tariffs higher than 15% by treaty.
Trumps behavior is sooooo flagrant and disgusting it amazes me that anyone supports him or provides him protection from his violations of our constitution or predations on children.
Congress being complicit in the DOJ’s Epstein cover up should be prosecuted under criminal conspiracy under the RICO Act.
This is the only way to remove Trumps team of insurrectionists and hold the accountable.
IMO of course…
amerika has done worse in your lifetime. 9.11.01 was practically dialed in as a one way flights to twin towers and pentagon…………the WMD bullshit and iraq invasion. hat tip poppy bush/CIA and MICC. the volks loved it. trump just won a thumping of a victory a little over a year ago………even after jan 6th……………uss maine, gulf of tonkin, pearl harbor, 9.11.01. trump is a light weight so far. not to mention the tyrant of 1860
Hope this makes him feel better, so he doesn’t attack Iran.
Fairly likely he will attack Iran in his quest to destroy our nations credibility.
This time China and Russia have staged military assets in the area and entanglement is more likely.
wet dreams for CIA and MICC and politicians and many everyday amerikans, too.
Probably a lot of pizza delivery lately. If only I learned to toss that dough in the air!
It’s like the Will Rogers adage, “…When you’re in a hole, don’t dig deeper…” I feel I’m losing sight of the sky and the top of the hole is spilling in…
Thank you SCOTUS!!!
It’s interesting that Trump had no planned fall-back position in case the SCOTUS voted against him. Under Section 122 of the ’74 Trade Act, he could’ve taken the maximum 15% tack – but he peremptorily first used the 10% level, only to change it a day or so later.
While I’m a conservative Republican I never voted for Trump, and since I couldn’t lean to the left I voted Libertarian. Trump’s actions during his Atlantic City bankruptcies in the ‘nineties and leaving the banks and partners out to dry dissuaded me from any future support. However I had no idea of the pandamonium he was about to cause. Disorder and confusion, admittedly mixed with a minor amount of clarity, have become his bywords.
the last conservative republicans were in power in the 1920s.
All true, and well presented, Mish.
Yes, but this one goes to 11.
The illusion is there is free trade but there never will be.
I want to address the simple comment made by Mish: That tariffs are “nothing more than a tax on consumers, create job losses and destroy small business and are economically stupid.” This is a 1000-foot view, and I would agree with Milton Freeman on this fact but that is predicated if we lived in a world with free trade. The proof that there is no free trade from the 1000-foot view is we have a trade deficit. In the 1000-foot world Milton Freeman world, we would not have a trading deficit because exchange rates would take care of any imbalance.
In the real world, we have a huge trade deficit and now we must ask why.
Chinese capital controls and others with capital controls – This keeps Chinese yuan inflated and keeps other currencies elevated. Did you ever wonder why Chinese save the most of any people in the world? US products are more expensive and even with that Apple sells lots of phones.
Chinese Intellectual theft and others – This is why we have a very small solar industry in the United States. Do you remember Solyndra? How many jobs were lost and half a billion in loan guarantees the US taxpayer lost.
Chinese use of slave labor (1 million Uighurs) and other countries. – There is nothing more that undercuts labor than free. There are more slaves in the world now than in Rome and the 1800’s. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/features/uighurs/
Chinese government direct subsidies, tax exemptions, cheap financing and local government incentives – in the United States, the bank and investors are not going waste capital when profit is the goal. The Chinese government does not care about the people, environment only the domination of the communist party (Xi).
In my view, we have tariffs to protect jobs so people can have jobs to be able to buy things and be consumers, be innovative creators to create small businesses without having their innovation stolen and copied. As long we have a trade deficit, we need tariffs because we cannot enforce laws to protect other people in other countries from their own government.
There are always winners and losers in a tariff policy. Which is the lesser evil?
Please play the Freidman link again.
What did he say to do regardless of what any other country did?
This is the 1000 foot view with parties that make rational choices for themselves. “Is it sensible to shoot holes in the bottom of your boat? – The best thing is for all countries to engage in free trade.” The example he was using was Japan which is paying the price now in their debt problems. Japan played by some rules. Japan was not a communist dictator with a facination on ruling the world through force. China now, just like Germany before world war II, is blatant in their goals. I don’t think it is wise in the long run to trade with malious dicators. In the Milton Freeman world it would be okay to trade tungsten to Germany before a war started. The Nixon promise of free trade with China will bring them to more freedom and lead them out of oppression to be a peaceful neighbor is a myth. China (Xi) wants to take the boat – shoot holes in it and does not care if it uses slavery, pollutes the earth and who it hurts as long as he thinks it benefits (XI) and the communist party and is the last one to go down with the boat. I dont think Milton Freidman ever really considered morality (war) in his 1000 foot view.
nations don’t really trade with other nations. companies and individuals do. there really is no such thing as a trade deficit. i go to supermarket and buy food from all over usa and world. same with in my companies i’ve owned. r/e and hedge fund. i buy bricks and sticks and windows, the trees grown in canada and rest of goods for a house manufactured and sourced all over the globe. same with my IJUNK i’m typing this on. this ain’t too complicated. in wars there are always blockade runners and the booze and guns get in and out………..the cartoon and childish views folks like trump and schumer and the morons who vote the red and blue team uniparty in pax dumbfuckistan, i just have to chuckle. i did business in russia in 1990s after the USSR went belly up overnight. plenty of old geezers north of 40 years old couldn’t handle the market place. so i get the mindset of old dumbfucks. it’s eternal.
Can someone offered Gnu’s condensed explanation of how his knowledge of economics is far superior to Milton Friedman’s?
The external (trade) deficit is, by definition, the difference between a country’s savings and investments. We, as a country, like to save little and invest a lot. That’s why we have a trade deficit. As long as tariffs don’t increase savings (unlikely in the US case) or reduce investments (maybe in the US case), they will have no impact on the trade deficit. Thus, if tariffs reduce the trade deficit, it will be because we shot ourselves in the foot by reducing our own investments.
A trade deficit occurs when a country’s total value of imports (goods and services bought from abroad) exceeds the total value of its exports (goods and services sold to other countries) over a specific period. It is a negative trade balance often driven by high domestic consumer demand, a strong currency, or lower national savings. – straight from AI and brought to you by the World economic council.
Why is there not higher consumer demand in China? Artifical inflation of currency and capital controls. The chinese government know they need to change there economic base but does not want to pay the costs.
The policies of the government effect the behavior of the people and their savings, consumption rates.
Who pays for the tariffs?
>> The Chinese government does not care about
>. the people, environment only the domination
> of the communist party
Lies and projection.
The market hasn’t reflected reality in a very very long time. It reacted for a week when tariffs were first announced but, other than that brief moment, quickly recovered to all time highs, no bad or normally market-negative news has moved this market lower. I wouldn’t make that bet with your money.
markets are gambling parlors. nothing more. they are reality.
Why not 1000%?
And yet, people still support him.
I voted for Trump in 2024 but now I hope he gets impeached by the House and tried by the Senate for trying to violate the US constitution. New Federal tax laws are supposed to originate in the House.
You really are a sucker for a “smooth talking” snake oil salesman.
this is classical narcissist behavior when he is loosing control. Rabid behavior and as he looses more and more his behavior is becoming more chaotic, deranged and straight scary.
That is why I always say to those MAGA cult members here – run away and never be part of this antics. At some point it is becoming so bad you will be embarrassed to be part of it and regret it.
Trust me, had 2 such cases in my family, this was straight down train wreck.
Trump is coming into most dangerous part now when he will start really fighting whole system to prove he is right. Lets hope Congress finally wakes up before major black swan even happen. Vote straight blue, November cannot come soon enough.
Exactly. And his rabid behaviour has been escalating since losing control of the Presidency in 2021. (Hence all the stole the election stuff.)
In his first presidency we saw plenty of his ideocracy but not a heap as much of the rabid behaviour of a narcists with power stripped.
The Trump 2.0 Presidency is like it is because he received the ultimate insult from the voting public last time. (And losing a poor candidate like Biden is even more insulting.)
Hence we get a power made president now. Who is doing what he wants, we he wants and without regard for the law. It is a travesty to American democracy. When this is over I wish the US would have a good hard look at itself and reform. But I’m not holding my breath.
16 people in Trump’s cabinet are billionaires. Do you really think he gives a rat’s ass about you or any of his MAGA followers?
history suggests that demagogues like trump with a cult following……..just ride them all into the gutter, most likely with wars. perhaps civil war and world war. perhaps just regional wars like amerika has been doing past 80 years.
“straight blue”, “blue no matter who” …. This mentality gave us trump.
Trump needs medical help. This kind of impulsiveness is not normal behavior.
It is normal behaviour for somebody like Trump. He has been behaving like this all his life.
He didn’t become a narcissist just in the past year. He is self obsessed and has no discernible morals. He has bullied his way through life and can’t stand anything or anyone who gets in his way.
democracy works. trump and biden……are perfect representatives of the amerikan people, writ large. sorry kids. thems the facts of world history.
Most people here just want to run into the arms of the oligarchs’ other party, the one that shit the bed so badly many voters were desperate for Trump.
Ping pong, from one onto the other.
Trump’s courtiers are in a tough spot. He is formally challenging the Rule of Law and asserting the powers of a Tyrant.
His mental and physical health are also deteriorating rapidly and visibly, which makes his SOTU address a make it or break it performance.
Miller, Vought and Noem are all in. Trump triumphs or they potentially face prison. Hegseth is dumb and will go along with whoever appears to have power. Bondi will do whatever it takes including betraying anyone and anything in order to come out on top and Patel is a weakling.
The military has shown its cards by obeying clearly illegal orders to commit murder and piracy, they will deploy American troops in American cities if so ordered which might not work out the way they want
The spooks back Vance, the FBI,DEA Etc are NOT HAPPY with the ascension of DHS…and they know how the system works.
While the supreme court has made itself irrelevant the lower Federal Courts and the 3,000 career prosecutors purged from the DOJ are not.
Congress is a toothless dog except for Massie and Ro Khanna.
The continuing Epstein revelations and war with Iran are wild cards, there is board anger and revulsion about the latest revelations and the continued coverup of Epstein’s network. A war with Iran which will almost certainly be a disaster and could have wide ranging and severe economic and political consequences for the USA and the world.
The mad man is planting the seeds of his own destruction as it is only a matter of time that he self destructs.
I doubt that he’s the kind that would go down alone.
The outcome of the illegal tariffs was easy enough to foresee that our astute blogger was able to predict it with sterling accuracy. This begs the question of just how abjectly stupid and incompetent can this administration be? How can these people not have seen this coming? It’s so blindingly stupid!
I think they knew. They wanted to interrupt trade as quickly as possible and knew congress would not act quickly. So, they’ve moved the Overton window. Now, they have some deals with some countries. Now it’s about getting Congress to legalized those deals.
These billionaires are not stupid. They’re schemers.
Doesn’t this effectively void every “trade deal” he’s coerced to date?
The rate that was agreed upon is no longer available. Doesn’t that void the contracts?
It would be funny if the agreements were binding and vassals like the EU and the UK which caved in on the spot to tariffs over 15%.
His whole tv series, free to choose, was very informative and interesting. Worth watching.
Except hes wrong about money supply, which was a cornerstone of the series. Increasing the money supply does not produce inflation.
Um, what? You didn’t seriously write that, correct? This must be a goof.
I believe if you check the FRED graphs, we recently had both money supply and inflation go in opposite directions.
Inflation IS increase in Money Supply.It has been wrongly used,by the vested interests, to mean cost of living compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, how do I get my extra cost for my four Goodyear tires (made in Turkey) back?
The beatings will continue until morale improves!
You don’t. Proles get nothing but lies.