Trump’s latest tariff tantrum unlikely to end well for the US

After devoting the first half of 2026 to an ineffectual, expensive and inconclusive military adventure in Iran, it seems US President Donald Trump is about to turn afresh to the wars he loves best – the tariff wars he still believes can make America great again.

He can’t quite walk away from the war in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s refusal to capitulate has left Trump with an awkward obligation to fight on, despite the widespread unpopularity of the conflict, even among his base, and the need to focus attention on midterm elections just four months away.

Perhaps the White House has concluded that the war and its inflationary effects must be relegated to the back burner if support for Republican candidates in November’s midterms is to be protected.

Whether trade wars can distract attention is open to question. At least, the White House seems determined to try – even if it means dredging through ancient corners of US legislative history to bypass the US Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs rationalised with the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

One signal of a renewed tariff war came just over a week ago when Trump slapped 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Brazil after a year-long probe, under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, into unacceptable unfair trade practices.

On the heels of those tariffs, the US on Thursday imposed a wave of Section 301 tariffs, ranging from 10 to 12.5 per cent, on 60 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and European Union member states, as a result of investigations into forced labour practices.