Trump’s war on the world faces a lethal blow

October 1, 2026 — 12:02pm

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Donald Trump’s third attempt to impose a global tariffs regime is being tested by the same panel of judges that deemed his previous attempts illegal.

On Wednesday, the US Court of International Trade, which struck down those earlier tariffs, heard arguments in a challenge brought by importers and 25 Democrat-led states to the 10 to 12.5 per cent tariffs the Trump administration imposed on about 60 economies and 86 countries (the 27-member European Union was treated as a single economy) in late July.

The tariffs (including a 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian exports to the US) were imposed, ostensibly, because of those countries’ failure to adequately prevent imports of goods made with forced labour.

The administration argues (as it has to under the legislation being used to implement the tariffs) that those failures gave them an unfair advantage over US producers and “burdens or restricts” US commerce.

Gold’s rollercoaster ride shows the messy state of the global economy

Stephen BartholomeuszSenior business columnist

Senior business columnist

The “forced labour” tariffs are a transparent attempt to recreate the global tariff regime that the Court of International Trade ruled illegal last May; a judgment that the US Supreme Court confirmed in February.

The administration responded to the Supreme Court setback with a temporary replacement for the illegal tariffs, using a different section of the US Trade Act, which allows a president to impose tariffs of up to 15 per cent for a maximum of 150 days in a balance of payments crisis.

The US doesn’t have – with a floating exchange rate it can’t have – a balance of........

© Brisbane Times