After a few false starts that rattled the markets and U.S. trade partners, Donald Trump on April 2 ordered tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories, igniting a trade war that turned overseas allies into economic rivals, who are expected to impose retaliatory tariffs on American goods.
Trump imposed a global tariff ranging from a 10% basic tariff on goods from smaller nations, 20 to 25 percent on goods from the European Union, 25% for Indian goods, 46% for Vietnamese goods and 54% for Chinese goods, which Trump increased to 145% after China imposed a retaliatory 34% tariff on U.S. goods. Despite Trump’s claims that tariffs are paid by foreign countries, American companies importing goods into the U.S. pay the tariffs, and pass the costs along to American consumers. Tariffs end up as a national sales tax that will cost the average American family thousands of dollars.
Goods from Mexico and Canada that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement Trump negotiated in 2020 will largely remain exempt from tariffs, except for 25% tariffs on auto exports and steel and aluminum which fall under separate tariff policies — but that could change on Trump’s whim.
Trump injected chaos into the world economy, which has caused stock market values to plunge worldwide, with a loss worth trillions of dollars. The chaos is likely to send the US economy into a recession, if not a full-fledged depression. And this is all to make Americans forget the vigorous economy and high employment rate that President Joe Biden handed over to Trump in January.
After stock markets showed a steep loss in values April 3-8, Trump on April 9 announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries except China. The pause caused a surge in markets April 9, but continued uncertainty over the economic turmoil sent all three major Wall Street stock indices down again April 10.
In its authoritarian turn, the Trump administration insists on its right to terrorize immigrants with the threat of detention and deportation, and possibly extend that authority to terrorize U.S. citizens.
The Supreme Court on April 7, in a 5-4 decision, allowed the use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which allows detention and removal of citizens of a nation at war with the United States, after Trump declared the presence of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang in the United States an “invasion.” But the court ruled that people who are detained under the act are entitled to due process before they are deported from the U.S.
The case originated in the D.C. court of Judge James E. Boasberg, whose temporary restraining order blocking the deportations of several immigrants was ignored by the Trump administration. Federal officials have said more than 130 Venezuelans who were being deported under the act were beyond U.S. airspace at the time of Boasberg’s order, and therefore could not be returned to the U.S. Instead, they were transferred to a prison in El Salvador that is known for human rights abuses, where they are being held indefinitely under a contract with the president of El Salvador.
Family members have disputed that some of the migrants were gang members, and the government has acknowledged in court filings that many did not have criminal records in the United States.
Boasberg halted the deportations in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of five migrants. The ACLU said Trump can’t invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans because the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela.
“The act was meant solely to address ‘military’ hostilities directed at the United States, not criminal activity by a gang during peacetime,” ACLU attorneys wrote in a filing.
The ACLU called the Supreme Court’s ruling that migrants are entitled to challenge the government’s claim that they are gang members “a huge victory.” However, the Supreme Court said the migrants would need to pursue their case in a federal court in Texas.
“We are disappointed that we will need to start the court process over again in a different venue, but the critical point is that the Supreme Court said individuals must be given due process to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act,” lead ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a statement.
A few hours earlier, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts had blocked a Maryland federal judge’s order directing the Trump administration to return to the U.S. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who was mistakenly deported to the same notorious prison in El Salvador.
Abrego García, who is married to a U.S. citizen and had legal protected status in Maryland, was picked up by ICE officials March 12, was told his immigration “status had changed,” was moved to a detention facility in Texas, and was deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement despite a court order forbidding it because he had fled death threats from gang members in El Salvador.
Trump officials now argue they cannot return Abrego García because he is in the custody of El Salvador, but U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland wrote that the federal government has the authority to return Abrego García and the Trump administration has offered “no evidence” to prove he is a member of any gang. Xinis also noted that the Trump administration is paying the Salvadoran government to detain deportees, and the agreement states that U.S. officials will decide what happens to the detainees in the future.
Earlier on April 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit declined to intervene, as a three-judge panel unanimously agreed that the order to bring Abrego García back “should not be stayed.”
In deporting Abrego García, I.C.E. “most assuredly” violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process, Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote. She pointed out that the U.S. government has readmitted wrongfully deported migrants before. “Now it must clean up the mess it has made” in Abrego García’s case, the order said.
Several nations, including Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have advised travelers about the political climate and fears of detention or harassment in the U.S..
In case you think this is just a matter for foreigners to worry about, Trump on April 6 said he might take up an offer to send U.S. citizens into El Salvador’s prison system.
In a press briefing aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked by a reporter about an offer made by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to accept prisoners sent by the U.S. from its federal prison population.
“I love that,” Trump said. “If we could take some of our 20-time wise guys that push people into subways and hit people over the back of the head and purposely run people over in cars, if he would take them, I would be honored to give them.”
In February, after Bukele first offered to imprison U.S. citizens, the ACLU told NPR the idea was a “non-starter.” But Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the time called Bukele’s offer “an extraordinary gesture never before extended by any country.”
While the Heritage Foundation gets to work on writing a new chapter of Project 2025, democracy defenders must get organized to hold all Republican members of Congress to account for enabling the Trump regime’s excesses. The Greedy Oligarch Party needs a good old-fashioned Wisconsin-style butt kicking in the next election. — JMC
Before Trump tariffs were just under 5% with some protective exceptions here and there and some zero with FTA (Free Trade Nations). Federal income from tariffs was in 2024 was 87 billion and is forecast to increase to only 120 billion at present. Hardly an emergency. About an F-35 fighter plane or Trump golf for a year. But the news media wants you to think, like Chicken Little, the Sky is Falling. Why don't they present this data driven perspective?
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