President Donald Trump’s trade war is back. After months of relative quiet following the Supreme Court’s February decision that upended the president’s sweeping tariffs on global trading partners, the administration is once again taking aim.
On Friday, levies ranging from 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners took effect. Since they largely mirror the now-expired duties Trump had imposed after the Supreme Court ruling, they’re unlikely to lead to significantly higher prices for US consumers.
But that’s assuming Trump stops there. His track record and his recent announcements suggest otherwise.
Since returning to office, Trump has steadily expanded his tariff agenda. What began with broad duties targeting imports from Canada, Mexico and China soon grew to include tariffs on autos, steel and copper before culminating in his sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs aimed at nearly every US trading partner.
Even the Supreme Court ruling that found those tariffs illegal didn’t curb his appetite for tariffs. If anything, it may have made him more determined.
