HOT TAKE: The Trade Court Travesty

How odd that activist judges would upend a Presidential power they've never before questioned when used by every other modern President.

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by Rod D. Martin
May 29, 2025

Since the passage of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934, every U.S. President has unilaterally imposed tariffs, or maintained those established by their predecessors.

So why exactly did the activist judges of the New York-based U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday, and Obama judge Rudolph Contreras (who also presides over the FISA Court) in a separate ruling today, overrule a power they’ve always previously upheld?

You know why.

The rulings are not just bad law (we’ll get to why). They’re a complete usurpation of the President’s — any President’s — power over foreign policy. It’s as bald an evisceration of the elected branches as any court has ever attempted.

Let’s put this in…