My boss, who as far as I can tell, still supports Trump, but is getting super pissed off. One of our suppliers in Canada wrote us a very earnest letter in mid January about how the upcoming tariffs were probably going to destroy his business, but he still wanted to be there to provide is excellent made in Canada parts. He said he would be forced to raise costs 25 percent on February 2nd. My boss got worried and put in 40-50 grand worth or orders that day to several of our Canadian suppliers, just for the Feb 2 to some around and Trump to say “sike!”. Now he is pissed that Trump is going to the Superbowl “how much is it going to cost us in taxes?”. His decisions to support trump are biting him where it really hurts: his wallet. It’s hard for me to remove the grin from my face.
Afaik the presidential powers to enact tariffs is limited. Congress is in charge of the budget and are the only ones allowed to set permanent tariffs. He is only getting away with what he is doing because he keeps making up phony emergency reasons why we need them, i.e. the bogus Canadian fentanyl story. The idiots in Congress have already given up so many of their duties to the executive branch it’s doubtful they can recapture them. Until members of Congress decide to call him out on his bullshit he will keep getting away with it despite what any of them say publicly… And we all know that his boot lickers will never do that.