[Chicks]

Donny’s steel and car tariffs hit major legal hurdle

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/...384221?cid=apn

Donald Trump is in danger of losing his favorite trade weapon.

The president argues he is allowed to impose tariffs on other countries' steel and cars because they pose a threat to America's "national security," but that position appears increasingly hard to justify after a bombshell ruling set to be adopted at the World Trade Organization on Friday.

The Geneva-based body will set a very high bar for countries to invoke the controversial Article 21 "national security" justification to impose trade restrictions. Although the decision refers to a Russia-Ukraine border dispute, the implications are likely going to be much wider since it's the first time the WTO has ruled on the powerful security clause.

Trump has become the most prominent advocate of Article 21, telling other countries they can't challenge his steel and aluminum duties (as well as potential auto tariffs) because they fall under the national security exemption.

The WTO ruling, however, sets a high threshold for invoking the security clause. It cites the need for an "emergency in international relations" that must be essentially linked "to the 'hard core' of war or armed conflict." In the case at hand, the judges saw this requirement as fulfilled — given an armed conflict in eastern Ukraine — and allowed Moscow to impose security restrictions against Kiev.

Sorry, Donny. Loser!