Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman
“Trump administration officials are trying to put a brave face on the stinging rebuke just delivered by the Supreme Court in its ruling that most of the tariffs imposed since April 2025 (the IEEPA tariffs) are illegal. Never one to accept limitations on his power, Trump rushed to impose new tariffs using an obscure clause, Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. Section 122 tariffs have a 150-day limit, at which point they expire. So Trump officials are now claiming that they’ll find ways to reconstruct the tariffs using other legal loopholes before the expiration date is reached. I don’t know how well this strategy will actually work. To the extent that it does work, we will be in the grip of zombie tariffs — tariffs that should be dead, because they were clearly imposed illegally, but that somehow keep shambling along.” (02/24/26)
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/attack-of-the-zombie-tariffs