Glenn Diesen - Greater Eurasia Podcast Richard Wolff: Tariffs Ruled Illegal - Geoeconomic Earthquake?
Mar 1, 2026
Richard Wolff, economist and Marxian scholar, explains the Supreme Court ruling on Trump's tariffs and why it shakes up politics and law. He unpacks who really paid the tariffs, corporate backlash, legal and practical failures, and how tariffs fall short as development policy. Short takes on political fallout, evasion, and international consequences.
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Tariffs Are Taxes Paid By Americans
- Tariffs function as taxes that overwhelmingly fall on American consumers, not foreign exporters.
- The Kiel Institute estimated exporters absorbed only ~5% of the tariff, leaving Americans to pay 95%.
Court Used Constitutional Tax Power To Undermine Tariffs
- The Court invalidated tariffs on constitutional grounds assigning taxing power to Congress, intensifying political pressure on Trump.
- That ruling empowers corporate opponents who oppose tariffs as de facto taxes despite earlier corporate tax cuts.
Tariff Uncertainty Killed Reshoring Incentives
- Tariff policy created uncertainty that discouraged reshoring and investment needed to rebuild manufacturing.
- Trump's frequent imposition, suspension, and adjustment of tariffs prevented CEOs from committing to costly production moves.