Washington, Oct 11 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Saturday renewed his criticism of the Supreme Court’s ruling against a category of his tariffs, claiming that the decision had deprived the federal government of hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue and hurt the American economy.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews after returning from a campaign rally in Tennessee, Trump blamed the court’s decision when questioned about the federal deficit, which a reporter put at $2 trillion for the last fiscal year.
“The Supreme Court hurt very badly because they wanted us to give back a certain form. You know, I have numerous forms of tariffs, but they wanted us to give back a certain form of tariff. And that was hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump said.
“So the Supreme Court decision was very bad for our country. Very, very bad for our country,” he added.
Trump did not specify the amount of tariff revenue affected by the ruling or provide an accounting of its impact on the federal deficit.
Earlier in his remarks came hours after he defended his tariff policies at a Republican campaign rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he portrayed import duties as a central element of his administration’s economic programme.
Trump argued that tariffs were generating substantial government revenue while encouraging foreign and domestic companies to establish manufacturing facilities in the United States.
“We’re getting rich because of tariffs,” he told supporters, claiming that the government was collecting trillions of dollars.
He also asserted that his administration had secured $21 trillion in investment commitments, a figure that was not independently verified in the material reviewed.
The president linked the tariff programme to a renewed campaign promise to provide $5,000 to every adult American citizen if Republicans secured control of both chambers of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections.
“I am going to give all adult citizens in the United States of America $5,000 everywhere,” Trump said.
He said that the proposed payments would be financed through tariff revenues and estimated the programme’s cost at approximately $1 trillion.
Trump also cited investments by Korea Zinc and General Motors in Tennessee as examples of manufacturing activity he attributed to his trade policies.
He said Korea Zinc was investing more than $6 billion in facilities in Montgomery and Smith counties, while General Motors had announced a $275 million investment in its Spring Hill manufacturing operations.
The president maintained that tariffs were encouraging companies to produce goods in the United States rather than import them.
The Supreme Court ruling has become an important issue in Trump’s defence of his economic policies, particularly as Republicans campaign on tariffs, manufacturing investment and the cost of living ahead of the midterm elections.
–IANS
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