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They Just Gave Trump Exactly What He Wanted

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The Supreme Court just struck down

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Trump's tariffs and

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companies are eyeing the opportunity to

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get a massive refund. You've got

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boardrooms going crazy. They're

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celebrating. You've got some everyday

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people out in the streets dancing. So

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happy that these tariffs have been

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struck down. But I'm noticing that most

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people are completely missing, what this

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actually means and are completely

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illprepared for what might come next.

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But let's go ahead and break down what

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just happened and what this means for

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you and your money. First, let's get it

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understood that the Trump administration

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is not about to just lay down and not

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find a workaround and just hand out

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money that they don't really have.

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Trump has already immediately put down a

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10% global tariff on top of anything

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that already still stands. Today, I will

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sign an order to impose a 10% global

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tariff under section 122 over and above

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our normal tariffs already being

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charged. And we're also initiating

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several section 301 and other

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investigations to protect our country

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from unfair trading practices of other

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countries and companies. But let's go

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ahead and perform a little mental

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exercise here. We're going to act like

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the tariffs are actually going to go

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away for a second. Stick with me. To do

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this, we have to fully understand what a

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tariff actually is and how it works. A

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tariff is a tax imposed by a government

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on imported goods and services designed

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to make foreign products more expensive,

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protect domestic industries, or raise

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government revenue. Now, the one who

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actually pays this tax is the business

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that is importing the good or service

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into the United States. They will then

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sell that good or service to an American

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consumer. But there's an unending debate

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about who ends up actually paying the

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bill because some people think that the

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importer is just going to raise prices

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and that is what they do to offset the

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higher tax. So in the end the consumer

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just pays that tax through inflation.

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Now others say that the exporter is

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going to lower their prices and they

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take the hit. Now others say that

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everyone here just shares a bit of the

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hit and you get shrinking profits for

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businesses uh both the exporter and the

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importer and you get a little bit of a

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higher price for the end consumer.

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Now what we saw in the data is that

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consumers paid higher prices on imported

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goods last year. One study saw about a

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76 basis point increase in all goods CPI

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pricing. Now, let's just imagine for a

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second that the tariffs go away and all

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of the importers are going to just get

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their money back. There was about 120 to

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$179 billion in the EA collections that

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would be returned to these importers.

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Now, let's keep it real for a second.

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Consumers already paid for the goods and

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services that they bought last year at

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inflated prices and the prices are

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already higher. Companies are not going

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to lower prices because tariffs went

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away. No, the prices are going to stay

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high and the corporations will

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hypothetically get their funds back and

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keep it pushing. People already lost

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their jobs due to the fear and

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uncertainty that tariffs brought. The

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tariff going away is not going to get

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these people their jobs back. The only

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winner here is the corporation and even

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they would potentially be in court for

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years before they actually see that

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money. Now, let's come back to reality

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for a second.

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The Trump administration has already

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outlined several different ways in which

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they can still implement tariffs even if

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the International Emergency Economic

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Powers Act tariffs are struck down.

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>> But if you lose, what what do you do?

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>> But the ultimate goal here that the the

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revenue and I have been very consistent

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on this that tariffs are a shrinking ice

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cube. The ultimate goal is to rebalance

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trade and to bring back domestic

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production. Okay,

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>> look, there are we can recreate the

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exact tariff structure with 301's, with

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232s, with the I think they're called

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122,

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>> but not permanently

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>> permanently.

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>> You think you're

4:52

>> well the 122s aren't permanently, but

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the others we can do it.

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>> As Scott Besson said, the ultimate goal

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here is rebalancing trade and to bring

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back domestic production. The US is a

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net importer of total goods and

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services, meaning they consistently run

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a trade deficit by purchasing more from

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countries than it sells to them. Tariffs

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rebalance trade because the higher

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prices to import encourage finding

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domestic alternatives, decreasing the

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net import position of the United

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States. This also encourages domestic

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production because at some point you're

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better off making and selling goods and

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services within the United States

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instead of relying on a volatile and

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hostile environment for continuing to

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import goods. You don't want to keep

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dealing with the fact that tariffs might

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go up by 100% on this or that product at

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any point in time. So my point is

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the Trump administration is going to

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rebalance trade and encourage domestic

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production

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by pretty much any means. In President

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Trump's speech responding right after

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the Supreme Court's decision, he

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mentions a little thing called a 122

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and he mentions that guy's friend 301.

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And these are also not area codes by the

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way. And what he is referring to here is

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section 122 and section 301

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which are specific provisions within the

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trade act of 1974.

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Section 122 specifically addresses

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balance of payments authority and this

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is a lesser used temporary tool designed

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for quick responses to urgent economic

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issues. And this allows the president to

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proclaim temporary import sir charges

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tariffs of up to 15% on top of any

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existing duties to address large and

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serious US balance of payments deficits

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or fundamental international payment

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problems. Now section 122 does not

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require a formal study and instead can

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be implemented just upon presidential

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determination.

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But the measures here automatically

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expire after 150 days unless Congress

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extends them by legislation.

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When it comes to section 301, this is

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more about relief from unfair trade

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practices. And this is a more

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established and frequently used

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authority, especially against China in

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Trump's first term. Now, what this

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allows is for the US trade

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representative, often at the president's

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direction, to investigate foreign

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government acts, policies, or practices

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that are unjustifiable, unreasonable, or

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discriminatory. If findings confirm

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issues, then the US trade representative

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can impose tariffs or negotiate binding

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agreements. These kinds of tariffs have

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no statutory cap on rates or scope. Now

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this does require a formal investigation

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and then the tariffs will be reviewed

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after 4 years and can be extended if

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beneficial to US industry. Now that's

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122 and 301. But then we've got section

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338. Now, this one right here is the one

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we got to look at. And this is seen as

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the nuclear option or essentially the

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plan B when something like what just

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happened occurs. And this is about

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discrimination by foreign countries.

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This allows the president once again to

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put new or additional duties of up to

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15% on top of any existing duties. And

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this can be imposed on imports from any

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country that he finds as a fact is

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discriminating against US commerce. This

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one does not require a formal

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investigation or agency report. The

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president just makes the findings and

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proclaims the duties would kick in after

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30 days and there's no time limits on

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duration. But the point here is that

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there are options. All right? They got

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options and they are very likely to use

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them. Justice Kavanaaugh, one of the

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Supreme Court justices, pointed out that

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the Supreme Court decision also

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effectively means that Trump has ways to

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unilaterally ban all foreign imports.

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Just another pod guy outlined on X how

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the administration can essentially force

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countries to pay tariffs by creating a

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security tax where the US simply doesn't

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import anything until that tax is paid.

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Now, this is not financial advice. I am

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not a financial adviser and I highly

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recommend that you do not take financial

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advice from a random guy walking around

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a park

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talking to a stick.

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But if the administration does not find

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a way to implement tariffs the way that

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they want to and have to give a refund

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to companies, then the US would very

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likely have to make that money come out

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of nowhere, which means they would need

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to print it. Um, you know, a refund of

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more than hund00 billion would be larger

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than the budget for several different

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large federal agencies. And that kind of

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money isn't necessarily just sitting

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around. If they print more, you're

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basically going to see increased

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borrowing that needs to occur from the

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US Treasury. And

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that's probably going to have to get

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bought by the Fed, which means that

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they're going to have to print money to

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make that happen. Not saying that has to

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be how it goes, but that's a pretty

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likely scenario to look out for. Now, if

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they find another way to get these

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tariffs done, then it would actually be

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important to look at what way in which

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they actually get it done because this

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will change the impact that these

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tariffs are going to have across several

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industries depending on which ones get

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hit. There will likely be a focus on

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more uh of the rare earth minerals,

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okay, and energy and anything related to

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AI and chip manufacturing. So, keep an

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eye on these industries and any

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opportunities for US domestic production

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to become a winner in all of this. But I

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don't know, maybe I've completely lost

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the plot. What did I miss? What did I

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get wrong? Or how could I be looking at

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this differently? Let me know in the

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comments down below. I'm going live

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right here on YouTube on my channel to

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talk about this in depth at 2 p.m.

11:24

Eastern on Saturday. So, if it's

11:26

Saturday,

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look down below and you can actually

11:29

find the link to this live stream. Join

11:31

me there. We're going to break this down

11:32

and more. And if you haven't already,

11:34

you got to subscribe to my live show

11:36

that I do with Ben Levit. It's called

11:37

Memes and Markets. We go live every

11:38

Tuesday and Thursday at 12:00 p.m.

11:40

Eastern, and we talk about topics like

11:42

this and much more. And you can join us

11:44

in the chat for the conversation. If you

11:45

want access to deeper insights on what

11:47

I'm doing with this kind of information,

11:48

feel free to join my Patreon where I

11:50

drop a weekly macroeconomic newsletter

11:52

or sign up for my channel memberships

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where macro analyst tier members get

11:55

access to exclusive videos and community

11:57

where I answer questions. I'm Keith D

12:00

here to talk everything money and

12:01

markets. And if you got anything from

12:02

this at all whatsoever, be sure to hit

12:03

that like button and subscribe. And

12:05

until next time, peace.

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