After being ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, Trump spoke again about tariffs: "We have been taken advantage of by almost every country in the world. They have huge trade surpluses. China's trade surplus with the U.S. is hundreds of billions of dollars. These surpluses have rebuilt China and their military. We have allowed this to happen, which is equivalent to helping China build its military."

The U.S. Supreme Court just dealt a heavy blow to Trump, ruling his proud global tariff policy illegal. But instead of giving up, he immediately came up with a "new solution" and reiterated his signature hard-line statements on China.

On February 20 local time, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that Trump's government's practice of imposing large-scale tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act exceeded the president's legal authority. This shows that Trump's tariff policy was illegal. More importantly, the scale of these tariffs, which were ruled illegal, is staggering, with economists estimating it to exceed $175 billion, and this money may face a complex situation of refunding in the future.

Facing the ruling, Trump quickly retaliated. He first criticized the ruling as a "shame," then immediately announced the launch of "Plan B": adding an additional 10% tariff on global goods based on the existing tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. He also hinted that the legal disputes regarding whether to refund the massive tax revenue might "take five years of litigation."

At the same time, Trump once again brought up China, reiterating in his speech that China's trade surplus with the U.S. "rebuilt the Chinese military." Objectively speaking, in 2025, China's trade surplus did reach a historical high of $1.19 trillion, but the trade surplus with the U.S. decreased, reaching only $280 billion.

A key fact about "who pays for the tariffs" is that the Federal Reserve report shows that nearly 90% of the tariff costs are actually borne by American consumers and importers. This means that rather than saying China is "taking advantage," it's more accurate to say that American citizens are paying for this trade game.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1857751678356492/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.