Trump says he has ‘absolute right’ to charge tariffs in another form

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on March 15 asserted he had the authority to impose duties despite the US Supreme Court in February striking down his global tariffs.

“I have the absolute right to charge tariffs in another form, and have already started to do so,” he said in a long post on his Truth Social network.

Mr Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on US imports via executive order shortly after the Supreme Court ruling.

Washington launched new trade probes last week into 60 economies, including China, the EU and Japan, which will look into “failures to take action on forced labour” and whether they burden or restrict US commerce.

Mr Trump’s post came hours after Beijing urged Washington to “immediately correct its erroneous ways” as both countries began a new round of negotiations.

Beijing’s Commerce Ministry called the latest US investigations “extremely unilateral, arbitrary and discriminatory”, accusing Washington of “attempting to construct trade barriers”.

Chinese and US trade officials met in Paris on March 15 for talks that Washington has said would last two days.

Mr Trump wrote in his post that the Supreme Court “knew where I stood, how badly I wanted this Victory for our Country, and instead decided to, potentially, give away Trillions of Dollars to Countries and Companies who have been taking advantage of the United States for decades”.

In another post on the night of March 15 on Truth Social, he excoriated federal judge James Boasberg for quashing subpoenas issued as part of a probe into Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell over costs linked to the bank’s headquarters renovations.

“What Boasberg has done on the ‘Too Late’ Powell case, and many others, has little to do with the Law, and everything to do with Politics,” Mr Trump wrote.

Mr Trump has repeatedly insulted Mr Powell over the central bank’s policies on setting the economy’s key interest rate. He has been vocal about his preferences for lower interest rates, criticising Mr Powell and attempting to unseat Fed governor Lisa Cook, over mortgage fraud allegations.

In January, the US Supreme Court appeared sceptical of Mr Trump’s attempts to fire Ms Cook, with a majority of judges expressing doubts that the administration had shown sufficient cause to remove her.

“This completely inept and embarrassing Court was not what the Supreme Court of the United States was set up by our wonderful Founders to be,” Mr Trump said in his social media post. “They are hurting our Country, and will continue to do so.

“All I can do, as President, is call them out for their bad behaviour! This statement about the United States Supreme Court will cause me nothing but problems in the future, but I feel it is my obligation to speak the truth.” AFP