OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a big victory in a case where the Biden administration sided with former President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Court declined to hear an appeal brought by USP Holdings, which was rejected by lower courts, in which it claimed the Trump administration acted improperly when it enacted the tariffs. The Biden administration has left the tariffs intact for the most part and argued against USP Holdings and other steel importers who said they were damaged by the tariffs, Yahoo reported.
“The Biden administration understands that simply lifting steel tariffs without any solution in place, particularly beyond the dialogue, could well mean layoffs and plant closures in Pennsylvania and in Ohio and other states where obviously the impact would be felt not only economically but politically,” Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said.
“Trump cited Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962, which permits the president to impose restrictions on the importation of goods deemed essential to national security. He said at the time that the tariffs were needed to bolster the production of airplanes, ships, and military materials with U.S. steel. The tariffs created tension with some U.S. allies, although some countries were exempted from the policy,” the report added.
“The Supreme Court turned away the petition in USP Holdings Inc. v. United States, court file 22-565, in an unsigned order. The court didn’t explain its decision. No justices dissented from the order. In April 2017, then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross commenced an investigation to determine whether “steel was being imported under such circumstances as to threaten or impair national security,” according to the petition (pdf) filed with the Supreme Court,” it continued.
The ruling comes as Trump was indicted late last week by a Manhattan grand jury in a case involving his purported role in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, allegedly to keep Daniels quiet about an affair the two of them had in 2006.
Trump is expected in court on Tuesday and reportedly planned to speak from his Mar-a-Lego estate in Florida later that day. However, District Attorney Alvin Bragg is likely going to seek a gag order, which would prevent the former president from speaking about the case.
“I think it’s not only a possibility, but there will likely be a gag order in the case,” Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice, told Insider. “Gag orders are very common in criminal cases, particularly where there is an enormous amount of pretrial publicity like this one.”
If the judge issues a gag order and Trump violates it, the punishment for criminal contempt under New York law is a fine not exceeding $1,000, jail for up to 30 days, or both.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state will not cooperate with any request to extradite Donald Trump after the former president was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury.
“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American,” DeSantis tweeted.
“The Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent. Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda,” he added.
Other Republicans issued strong statements in support of Trump.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz responded: “The Democrat Party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds. The ‘substance’ of this political persecution is utter garbage. This is completely unprecedented and is a catastrophic escalation in the weaponization of the justice system.”
Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley said: “Tonight’s indictment of Donald Trump isn’t about the law. It’s about power. Raw power. It’s the Democrat Party telling the nation they will stop at nothing to control the outcome of the next presidential election. It is an assault on our democracy, pure and simple.”
