President Donald Trump said Thursday that it would be “catastrophic” if the Supreme Court ruled that he does not have the power to activate most of the tariffs he has imposed on other countries and that constitute a key element of his economic strategy.
“It would be a shame. It would be something catastrophic for our country,” the president stated emphatically when asked today at the White House about this possibility after the Supreme Court heard on Wednesday the arguments of the parties in the case regarding the legitimacy of these levies.
The case has been referred by the Trump Government to the highest US court after small businesses and 12 Democratic states sued the Executive, considering that the president incorrectly used an emergency law to trace these liens and after lower courts ruled against the Republican Administration.
“(Tariffs) are fundamental for national defense, and we must act quickly. You cannot wait months and months while studies and all this work are carried out, or go to Congress,” said the New York magnate, referring to the arguments of the plaintiffs, who defend that, according to the Constitution, only the legislature has the power to implement this type of commercial taxes.
Find out: Prices in the US rise due to tariffs: can the Court stop Trump?
Trump insisted that customs taxes are a “defensive mechanism” and that thanks to these tariffs the country enjoys “great national security.” “So I think it would be devastating to lose that rule,” he added.
“Other countries have used tariffs that, without a doubt, would have destroyed us. If I had not intervened, our country would be destroyed right now. Tariffs have strengthened us in terms of national security; they have given us security,” the Republican justified.
“This is a matter of national security. And, by the way, bankruptcy is also a matter of national security. Our country was in serious trouble, on the verge of bankruptcy. And the difference between bankruptcy and prosperity is also a matter of national security,” Trump said.
Experts believe that if the Supreme Court annuls most of Trump’s tariffs, the US economy may find itself in a complicated situation, forced to reimburse amounts estimated to be around $100 billion at a time when doubts about the sustainability of the US deficit have increased after the approval of a large tax cut law.
With information from EFE.
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