President Trump doubles down after Justice Roberts defends judiciary
President Trump denied he’ll defy a future court order after Chief Justice Roberts rebuked his calls to impeach a federal judge.
The European Union will take “a bit of time” before responding to new tariff rates President Donald Trump will unveil April 2, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin says.
The Trump administration has already announced tariffs on steel and aluminium, and Trump has threatened 200% tariffs on EU wine and spirits along with additional tariffs. The EU is developing plans to counter the duties imposed by the United States. Details have not been released, but Reuters, citing a senior EU official, said the group of nations plans to at least tighten steel import quotas to prevent cheap steel flooding the European market.
Ireland is among the countries most exposed to Trump’s policy proposals. A significant proportion of employment, tax receipts and exports are directly dependent on U.S. multinational firms.
“Obviously there has to be a comprehensive response to any tariffs that would be announced on April 2,” Martin told Ireland’s parliament Wednesday. “I believe the EU will adopt a strategic approach.”
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced plans it said would make it easier for businesses to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The withdrawal of “unnecessary and outdated guidance will aid businesses in complying with the ADA by eliminating unnecessary review and focusing only on current ADA guidance,” the department said in a statement. The changes will help avoid confusion and reduce the time businesses spend understanding complicance, allowing them to “deliver price relief to consumers,” the statement said.
“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that businesses and members of the public can easily understand their rights and obligations,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mac Warner of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Putting money back into the pockets of business owners helps everyone by allowing those businesses to pass on cost savings to consumers and bolster the economy.”
Tariffs can apply to exports but are are primarily levied on imports, typically to protect industries in the country levying them. Tariffs make imports more expensive, thus making local goods cheaper by comparison. Tariffs also can provide income that can be used to support local industries, fund public programs or cover government expenditures.
And they can serve as bargaining tools to win concessions from trading partners.
“While tariffs may seem to penalize foreign producers by making their goods or services less competitive, the reality is that U.S. consumers and businesses ultimately bear the cost,” the Wilson Center scholars Diego Marroquín Bitar and Valeria Moy write in a “Tariffs 101” analysis.
Contributing: Reuters