Washington: US President Donald Trump defended his administration’s latest tariffs, saying they would withstand legal challenges and crediting the duties with attracting trillions of dollars in investment to the United States.
Speaking during a wide-ranging White House question-and-answer session following an event on civilian nuclear energy, Trump dismissed concerns over the legal basis of the administration’s latest tariff actions and said his trade agenda was producing unprecedented economic gains.
“These tariffs have been up for a long time. They’ve been approved for years, thousands of cases they’ve been approved,” Trump said.
Asked whether newly announced tariffs and a fresh trade probe involving the European Union would survive judicial scrutiny, Trump acknowledged that the administration had adjusted its legal approach following a recent Supreme Court ruling.
“I thought the decision by the Supreme Court was not a good one,” he said.
“But we have many forms of tariffs and all we did is… follow the line.”
Trump argued that the administration had simply relied on other legal authorities that had been used by previous governments.
“We’ve used that and we’re taking in billions of dollars.”
The President again portrayed tariffs as the principal driver of a surge in foreign and domestic investment.
“Because of tariffs, largely… we have $19.2 trillion being invested in our country.”
He contrasted that figure with investment during the previous administration.
“The Sleepy Joe Biden administration has less than a trillion being invested, much less, for four years.”
“We have $19.2 trillion for one year. There’s never been anything like it in history.”
Trump insisted that the investment boom would not have occurred without his trade policies.
“Without tariffs we wouldn’t… we’d be in big trouble.”
The President said the administration had responded to the Supreme Court’s decision by using alternative statutory authorities.
“The Supreme Court said, please do it a different way. You have other ways to do it and we did that last month.”
Trump has made tariffs a central feature of his economic agenda, arguing that import duties encourage companies to relocate manufacturing to the United States while generating federal revenue.
During the same exchange, a reporter referred to child labour being cited by the Office of the United States Trade Representative as one of the reasons behind a recent trade action.
Trump replied that it appeared to have been among the factors considered.
“Well, it seems to be that’s what they decided.”
“They go all over the world and they look and they examine… and child labour was one of the reasons.”
He did not elaborate further or identify any specific country in his response.
Throughout the question-and-answer session, Trump repeatedly linked trade policy with broader economic and industrial objectives, including energy production, manufacturing and domestic investment. He argued that tariffs had strengthened the US economy while encouraging businesses to expand production inside the country.
Tariffs remain one of the most closely watched aspects of US economic policy because of their impact on global trade, supply chains and inflation. Major economies, including the European Union, China and several Asian trading partners, continue to monitor Washington’s trade actions closely as negotiations and legal disputes over tariff authorities evolve.
(IANS)
