How Trump plans to keep tariffs at the center of his economic policy despite stinging court losses

President Donald Trump just can’t quit tariffs. He suffered a major defeat when the Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 against the sweeping emergency tariffs he announced the previous year. Then, on May 7, a federal court knocked down the interim tariffs he announced after the high court’s decision. Yet Trump appears undeterred and keeps finding a plan B – and then C and D. “So, we always do it a different way,” the president told reporters after the May 7 decision. “We get one ruling, and we do it a different way.” That different way, currently, is using an authority called Section 301. This option is likely to invite more litigation, but it may wind up more powerful and durable than previous levies. To that end, the administration has opened two probes, paving the way for fresh tariffs later this year against China and other major trading partners. Why does this matter? U.S. trade policy, to the average person, may seem like a complicated mess of acronyms and legalese. But as a trade economist who has been following the tariff wars, I believe Trump’s strategy of making aggressive global tariffs the centerpiece of his foreign economic policy is quite…

Read full article on The Conversation Business →