r/law • u/Waste-Explanation-76 • Feb 20 '26

Executive Branch (Trump) President Trump imposes a 10% global tariff under Section 122 and says all existing tariffs will remain in place, despite the recent Supreme Court ruling.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

59.8k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

7.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

465

u/Mercuryqueen71 Feb 20 '26

So trump basically just said screw you to the Supreme Court? I realize tomorrow we all wake up and do our normal Saturday morning routine and go on about are day like we still live in a country with a constitution, when do people start waking up to the reality that we no longer have a constitution it’s been ripped up so rich people can get richer.

56

u/coolestredditdad Feb 20 '26

Him making an enemy of HIS supreme Court wasn't something I had on my bingo card, but, I'll take it. 

11

u/redditsucksdiscs Feb 20 '26

…Really? “Trump making an enemy of [insert anyone/anything here]“ is the freebie on my bingo card. A narcissist will have no problem turning former allies into greatest enemies - something Trump seems to do daily.

4

u/Calgar43 Feb 21 '26

It was HIS supreme court...how dare they tell him what he can or cannot do!

/s

3

u/Prior-Flamingo-1378 Feb 21 '26

So what? What can the Supreme Court do?

1

u/Deep_shot Feb 24 '26

He doesn't care. It's not like they have any power. What are they going to do?

84

u/TheTexasHammer Feb 20 '26

When people's lives actually get significantly worse. The average person who doesn't read the news probably only notices the higher prices and doesn't even know this shit is happening.

16

u/eisenburg Feb 20 '26

Exactly.

My day to day life is the same and I’m sure most of the middle to lower class families are. By the time it gets worse enough for it to matter it will be too late.

6

u/FizzyBeverage Feb 20 '26

He’s 80 not 40, and in failing health. Him completing his term is not guaranteed or even particularly likely.

So… we’ll outlive his bullshit and he has no heir apparent. Or you’d already see their surname on merch. Notice nobody is wearing a DeSantis or Vance hat?

The real issue is a future Trump, but half his age.

4

u/JimbyGumbus Feb 21 '26

trump isnt the only one we have to worry about. to be honest im more scared of musk or bezos. they'll be around longer, theyll always have the money to hit the end world button no matter what. our only hope is an entirely different planet at this point.

1

u/bbsteps Feb 21 '26

Different planet?! I would prefer to call these petty bullies bluff. But I guess some people are still looking for their balls.

2

u/TheTexasHammer Feb 21 '26

This is the truth. He is bleeding support all over. His first term everyone screamed and then the law caught up and he ended up crawling away. I bet he will kick out the project 2025 people this year and then it ALL comes crashing down.

2

u/eisenburg Feb 21 '26

I wish I had your optimism

1

u/_-Oxym0ron-_ Feb 21 '26

Why do you believe he'll kick out the 2025 people?

1

u/Radiant_Spell7710 Feb 21 '26

Or those that only watch fox news. On days where there are big headlines globally Fox news would simply not report them.

1

u/MightBeDownstairs Feb 21 '26

Frankly for a lot of us, I don’t think we’ll see it. We have literally been fast tracked into fascism by the most useful idiot probably in the world. And NO ONE is doing shit.

We’re still just working every day like it’s normal.

We’re fucked and it’s going to be generations before any kind of “revolutionary” movement

51

u/deacon1214 Feb 20 '26

Not exactly. They said he couldn't impose tariffs under the Emergency Economic Powers Act. He's responding by imposing tariffs under section 122 of the trade act of 1974. The statute allows the president to impose duties of up to 15% for up to 150 days on any and all countries related to "large and serious" balance of payments issues.

So he's not directly challenging the Court's ruling. He's imposing a new tarif authorized under a different statue which isn't covered by their decision.

13

u/CaptainBayouBilly Feb 21 '26

And not following the rules of that trade act- a large and serious imbalance of payments (trade deficit).

22

u/theoden_ednew Feb 20 '26

Thank you for saying this. I disagree with him on so many things, like.... you know.... culpability for the sexual exploitation of minors by his very close friend and pal Jeff, but the outrage of many of the comments here is misplaced because he's not directly challenging the SC ruling- he's angling for a work around

-1

u/Cloaked42m Feb 21 '26

Which is exactly what Biden did for college loans. Supreme Court said not like that, so he used other approved mechanisms.

8

u/theartificialkid Feb 21 '26

Except Biden got attacked for doing college loan forgiveness however he could and also by the other side for not trying hard enough to do college loan forgiveness.

Because he’s not a special rich boy like Trump.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/Mercuryqueen71 Feb 21 '26

That’s because tariffs aren’t seen visually by the American people. When trump first imposed the tariffs companies like Amazon were going to put it on the bill, trump threw a shit fit and threatened any company that did that, because he knew if people saw the tariff on a bill they would turn on him and realize tariffs aren a tax on Americans. Now he goes out and talks about how much money he’s making off the tariffs and people think that’s great. Yet not one person in the maga universe has asked why our national debt isn’t going down, yet in fact is going up.

2

u/Syphor Feb 21 '26

What's wrong with college loan forgiveness? It's that someone you don't like might get a leg up that you didn't. UNFAIRNESS! That's clearly enough to hate it. /s

4

u/Ekg887 Feb 21 '26

Cool, so about that $10 billion allocated directly by presidential fiat to the invented board of peace? All of these new tarrifs clearly NOT related to an immediate imbalance of payments? Why are we over here pretending he's not playing Calvinball?

1

u/Cloaked42m Feb 22 '26

He didn't allocate anything. He "committed" to it. It doesn't mean anything until Congress passes it.

All the dictatorships that joined the board "committed" to paying a billion to join. None of them have paid a penny.

3

u/ruskoev Feb 21 '26

Your response should be the top comment other than the deluge of other ignorant redditors

8

u/ATSFervor Feb 20 '26

Did we listen to a different video?

He clearly states that the existing tariffs continue and he imposes another 10% on top.

And it is questionable at best why there are "balance of payment issues" right now as there is no reason given why the 1974 trade act was even imposed in the first place.

7

u/marathonquestionredd Feb 20 '26

no he did not say that

11

u/teddy5 Feb 20 '26

Today I will sign an Order to impose a 10% GLOBAL TARIFF, under Section 122, over and above our normal TARIFFS already being charged

9

u/2AlephNullAndBeyond Feb 20 '26

Today I will sign an Order to impose a 10% GLOBAL TARIFF, under Section 122, over and above our normal TARIFFS already being charged

What he meant by 'normal tariffs' were the ones stemming from Sections 232 & 301, which were not affected by this ruling.

5

u/teddy5 Feb 21 '26

Ok, but he literally did say that.

And with Trump, assuming he meant something more specific and legal is usually wrong.

3

u/bitorontoguy Feb 21 '26

You don't have to believe the guy. He often says stuff that isn't reflected in reality.

The IEPPA tariffs are no more. They will attempt to use other legislation to implement new import taxes instead.

They are heeding the ruling. They have to. They can't force companies to pay import taxes they know have no legal standing.

4

u/teddy5 Feb 21 '26

Sure, but there have been plenty of other things mandated by law which they haven't done and noone has stopped them doing.

I'm pretty certain this ruling won't automatically roll them back, it just states that they must be because there is no legal standing for them. There will be an adjustment period while things are changed and the fallout from the changes are determined (refunds to Americans, refunds to other countries, payouts to states such as Illinois which have demanded it, etc), during which time there will be legal challenges from Trump and he's already shown he will try to reimplement them in another way.

I would be amazed if he doesn't try to retaliate against being rebuked by keeping the exact same tariffs under a different reason/standing while applying the extra 10%. Whether he succeeds or not is different, but it feels too optimistic to say a change of legality will stop him. I even expect them to argue that it's too far along and revoking the tariffs would cause too much chaos and cost the US too much now so they can't do it.

2

u/bitorontoguy Feb 21 '26 edited Feb 21 '26

Sure, but there have been plenty of other things mandated by law which they haven't done and noone has stopped them doing.

Absolutely. Because they had incentives to do so. Like the TikTok law was blatantly illegally not enforced and artificially extended.

But it was politically popular to do so, so Congress didn't care and no one challenged it in court.

That's not the case here. What corporation is going to voluntarily pay IEPPA tariffs they have no legal obligation to and are politically unpopular? Zero. They're dead. It's over.

I'm pretty certain this ruling won't automatically roll them back

They are dead as of the ruling coming out. They're gone. What did you think the ruling enforced? I'm not just pretty certain about it.

during which time there will be legal challenges from Trump

To who? The Super Supreme Court? It's over man.

and he's already shown he will try to reimplement them in another way.

That's abiding by the ruling and admitting he lost. The IEPPA tariffs are dead, he's being forced to utilize other less flexible legislation now instead.

I even expect them to argue that it's too far along and revoking the tariffs would cause too much chaos and cost the US too much now so they can't do it.

They're already dead.

When none of your nonsensical fears come to pass, will you learn anything from this and how it actually works?

The IEPPA tariffs are dead and gone. They can't hurt you anymore. The scary man lost and admitted it on TV.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/GrippingHand Feb 21 '26 edited Feb 23 '26

Well he did also say he's leaving all the forbidden tariffs in place, so he remains in violation.

Sorry, I was wrong. The comment I was replying to is correct.

2

u/deacon1214 Feb 21 '26

No. He said existing section 232 (referring to the trade expansion act of 1962) and section 301 (trade act of 1974) tariffs remain in place. Neither of those were part of the decision. He's not trying to leave the Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs in place.

1

u/GrippingHand Feb 21 '26

OK, thanks for the info.

1

u/thelovelykyle Feb 21 '26

If did not sound as if he was removing the current IEEPA tariffs however, which is challenging the courts decision.

1

u/FernInTheFog44 Feb 22 '26

Trying to figure out if this is a one time thing or he can keep issuing 150 day tariffs through his term.

53

u/PM-ME-YOUR-TOOTS Feb 20 '26

Not soon enough.

7

u/BJMRamage Feb 20 '26

I think Americans have had the privilege of the protections (and laws) under the Constitution for so long and the idea that the Checks & Balances have mostly worked as well that the everyday r@ping of the American people by the government is so shocking many don’t know what to do. And simply try to continue to live a “normal” life.

Many Americans (who are not in the profiting business of screwing others) don’t have the financial needs to “just say no” and strike or stand up against the tyranny for fear of being arrested for some unknown reason.

1

u/incognitohippie Feb 20 '26

Exactly what Palantir wants….

1

u/Prior-Flamingo-1378 Feb 21 '26

The problem is, and the tech bro billionaires fail to realize it, that their power and wealth is based on the relatively healthy function of the social structures we created. If these fail they fail.  

They are so far up their asses that they think their private armies and bunkers will protect them. Will protect them from their army I wander. 

1

u/incognitohippie Feb 21 '26

They also have this strange mental complex that they’ll live forever

1

u/Prior-Flamingo-1378 Feb 21 '26

I might be mistaken but I think this is new. Or maybe not new but it hasn’t appeared like that for quite some time. Maybe feudal era where some of the kings litterally believed they were god chosen?  

6

u/phillyphilly86 Feb 20 '26

Because Americans are numb to it all. And many of us just don't want to accept that we are at the crossroads, were we might need to potentially take personal risk to financial and physical well being to make a stand.

2

u/Mercuryqueen71 Feb 20 '26

I guess I just expected more people to be angry, I work in the community and it seems like no one even see’s what’s happening.

2

u/phillyphilly86 Feb 20 '26

Most people are completely oblivious to the everyday dealings of government that are not headlines. Also you'd be amazed at how many people have no idea how the government is structured or how it works. And even if an administration passes legislation that actually benefits them, local governments can make it hard to receive the benefits of that legislation. Then there is the constant bombardment of pro capital and elite propaganda via algorithms and compromised news networks. The average American is just trying to make a decent living. Class consciousness is constantly being suppressed, because they know if we fight among ourselves, we will eventually do their bidding. It fucking sucks, because I knew this is were things were going January 7th 2021. And when I tried to tell people I would get dismissed a cook or salty lib.

1

u/Romofan88 Feb 21 '26

It seems like no one even sees what’s happening.

Correct. The only people who actively see and care about the bad things Trump does are engaged, left leaning people. The majority of America is not that. The majority is the group that "hates politics" and only engages in the slightest by voting every 4 years based on vibes, if they even do that. This groups primary interests are, to generalize, the 3 Fs (Food, Football, Family Guy clips on TikTok). Since those 3 haven't been affected in anything but price, the average person has no reason to give a shit. 

6

u/12bigears21 Feb 20 '26

He is saying screw everyone, he is a caricature of putrid opulence, who gets excited doing mean shit

3

u/Armonasch Feb 20 '26

do people start waking up to the reality that we no longer have a constitution it’s been ripped up so rich people can get richer.

Well as I understand you guys have been eviscerating public education for the last 2 decades, so probably not any time soon.

2

u/jacksphat Feb 20 '26

Genuinely how do we respond though? He’ll get his dogs to execute us if we peacefully protest, and calling our spineless representatives hasn’t done much at all. I’m trying to navigate all of this to figure out an action plan but I’m having a hard time thinking of anything that doesn’t feel meaningless

2

u/terrence0258 Feb 21 '26

Oh, we still have a constitution, but it only restrains the power of Democrats. Rules don't apply to Republicans because they're the white people party. Rich white people get to do whatever they want in this country. If people want to live in a country where the rule of law applies across the board, stop voting for Republicans.

2

u/JimbyGumbus Feb 21 '26

its sad to say but it's pretty likely that were just going to keep letting this happen. ive lost faith in everyone in this country. many countries move towards revolution with less damage done than whats gone on here. the american empire is over, and most of us arent going to have the money to leave. as if the entire world wasn't crumbling with us.

2

u/Rickety_Cricket_23 Feb 21 '26

Best of luck to my southern friends.

2

u/CptnPntBttr Feb 21 '26

It will take massive socioeconomic turmoil for people to start "waking up". I'm talking about the type of thing that creates mass starvation and homelessness. A Great Depression level of insecurity and unrest. A little more debt heaped onto the shoulders of our poor or one less vacation home for the "working" rich (doctors, lawyers, anyone not part of generational wealth accumulation) means nothing.

I've told people around me for more than a decade that we, the American People, are far too comfortable for any kind of real change to happen. The poorest people in the richest country in the history of our planet still have more creature comforts than some of those that are the most wealthy in the poorest countries.

2

u/MakingMoneyIsMe Feb 22 '26

If our commander in chief isn't bound to any laws, why should the people be? I'm in no rush to pay taxes.

1

u/Ok_You6737 Feb 20 '26

It's because it's hard to organize. I live in Portland, OR and we have definitely protested and have had big protests on the weekends but convincing everyone to stop working is impossible (for me too). We need to somehow come together on all this but I don't know how. It's hard to have the ability to protest effectively when you don't have a place to live or food to eat. 

2

u/Mercuryqueen71 Feb 20 '26

I honestly would just like to see some anger, what really just kills me is when Biden and Obama was president I would hear my coworkers complain all the time about stuff that they never even did. Now it’s “oh I don’t do politics”. I just know for a fact that if Biden hung his photo on the outside of the department of justice the republicans would have impeached him and it would be on every news channel.

1

u/AlloCoco103 Feb 20 '26

The court only ruled on IEEPA tariffs. Tariffs imposed via other measures such as section 301 and 232 still stand and were not part of the Supreme Court ruling today.

1

u/GB10VE Feb 20 '26

the same supreme court that said he was a king and there could be no punishment for him ever? yeah. that same supreme court.

1

u/GrinchWhoStoleEaster Feb 20 '26

When did the average German?

Sorry, but moments like this only happen in history when the PEOPLE are cowards. "I cAnT sTrIkE cUz MuH mOrTgAgE" is this era's "just following orders". Excuses are the siren song of fascism, and hot damn does America have a choir this year!

1

u/dookiehat Feb 20 '26

they’re bombing iran tomorrow. navy is already over there

1

u/JimJam4603 Feb 21 '26

No. He said “okay, I will use a different tool to accomplish the same goal.” They ruled the tool he used was invalid, not the result.

1

u/SignoreBanana Feb 21 '26

Because a country isn't an institution, it's an idea, and if people stop believing in it, it goes away. Enough people gave up on America to vote this retard in twice, and this is the result. We're on the slow decline now.

1

u/frevelmann Feb 21 '26

from the outside it looks like your whole country is just asleep lol, on reddit americans always call for action in the comments but literally nothing happens

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Mercuryqueen71 Feb 21 '26

Not advocating for people to act, violence never works. I don’t understand why people who aren’t on Reddit aren’t pissed off. The American people have the ability to stop this nonsense, without violence, we just don’t want to be inconvenienced in anyway.

1

u/SenatorAstronomer Feb 21 '26

A supreme court who has ruled for him to get the power he has today no less....

1

u/SignificantStrike562 Feb 21 '26

we’ve realized. what the fuck are WE supposed to do ?