Let's talk about the Trump-EU trade deal stalling and more economic news.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about the Trump EU trade deal stalling and more economic news.

The Supreme Court struck down Trump's unlawful tariffs. Trump immediately doubled down and invoked section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to reimpose tariffs. This introduced more uncertainty. Markets hate uncertainty.

Another problem arose when Trump started publicly giving his reasons for invoking section 122. Much like the last time, he doesn't seem to understand that Congress delegated tariff power to him in a limited scope for limited reasons.

So if you invoke tariffs to hypothetically speaking of course obtain leverage in trade negotiations and that authorization only allows the president to impose tariffs when there is a large and serious balance of payments deficits or significant currency depreciation it'll likely be struck down too.

It would also be beneficial to a president if they understood that balance of payments and balance of trade, trade deficits aren't the same thing. I'm pretty sure Trump has already given enough public statements about his rationale to have his new tariffs struck down, too, or at least limited. If I know this, other countries know this.

In completely unrelated news, the EU has halted ratification of one of the only real trade deals Trump was able to obtain. After an emergency meeting in Brussels, European lawmakers complained about how things were “so uncertain.”

The Parliament's Trade Committee chief said that nobody knows what will happen and said, "It's unclear if there will be additional measures or how the United States will really guarantee." In other words, the EU is wondering if the US will keep up its side of the trade deal. So, there is no reason to move forward with it until they get clarity.

When you're talking about trillions of dollars over the long term, certainty seems like a reasonable request. Trump rambling on social media isn't helping. He posted, "Any country that wants to play games with the ridiculous Supreme Court decision, especially those that have ripped off the USA for years and even decades, will be met with a much higher tariff and worse than that which they just recently agreed to. Buyer beware. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President Donald J. Trump.”

Sure, this might play well at home, but to people who understand international trade, nobody even knows what this means. It's not tough posture. It's telling foreign countries to ignore US laws as interpreted by the Supreme Court. To add to Trump's tariff lows, Democrats have introduced legislation that would mandate refunds to those who paid tariffs under Trump's unlawful tax on Americans.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said, "Trump's illegal tax scheme has already done lasting damage to American families, small businesses, and manufacturers who have been hammered by wave after wave of new Trump tariffs."

To add even more economic stress to Trump's plate, a Federal Reserve Governor, Chris Waller, said he believed last year's meager job gains had a “upward bias.” Yep. We would have lost jobs. He went on to say, It seems “clear that payroll employment in the United States probably fell in 2025.”

Dying trade deals, higher inflation, declining GDP growth, and losing jobs. Truly a Golden Age. Call it the Trump effect.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.