EDITOR’S NOTE: Since John’s writing, the tariff issue is back in the courts in the U.S., with arguments due June 5th and June 9th. At issue is whether the emergency President Trump declared to justify imposing the tariffs is legitimate, or whether tariffs in this situation must be imposed by Congress. It’s not over…and it’s still changing by the hour, it seems.
And here’s John’s blog…
Until this week, I suspect that President Trump thought that ‘executive overreach’ was when he reached across the table for the peas rather than asking a waiter to pass them to him. He knows better now…
Long story short, the US Court of International Trade has blocked his tariff plan. He will appeal, naturally: but the latest twist in the long-running saga suggests that the courts believe that nobody – not even the President – has the unilateral right to bypass Congress and ride roughshod over the Constitution. Which seems about right to me…
So, what happens now? Global stock markets have risen, and the dollar has strengthened on the back of the announcement, with the financial community seemingly happy that sanity has prevailed. There will not be any changes at the border for now – tariffs will still have to be paid for the next week or so. But If the White House is unsuccessful in its appeal, the US Customs and Border Protection Agency will then issue directions to its officers. Furthermore, if all courts do uphold the ruling, businesses who’ve had to pay tariffs will receive refunds on the amounts paid, with interest.
However, that will be cold comfort for the people who have lost their jobs and the businesses that have suffered over the past few months. There would be other knock-on effects too: Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax bill will need to be completely reworked, as none of the numbers will add up anymore. And what about all of the pricing conversations that have been going on – do suppliers and retailers stick with what they’ve agreed in case there are further developments, or renegotiate (again)??
After several months of pandemonium, maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Has it come in time to save Christmas for US toy suppliers? It will be touch and go for some, but for others, there is a lifeline dangling… let’s just hope that it isn’t pulled up at the last minute.
Back here in the UK, I wanted to write about something that has been on my mind for a while – the increasingly visible security measures being implemented by certain retailers. The gates that stop people leaving stores without scanning a receipt; the food in lockable plastic cases (even cheese!!); the security guards at the entrance of stores. Tesco is now said to be introducing ‘VAR-style’ cameras at some self-checkout tills, to identify when shoppers fail to scan an item properly (either by mistake or deliberately). “VAR decision – Lego disallowed” indeed.
Read the rest here.
