Speaker 1: Do you want to be an American? All right, here
Speaker 1: we go Scott's Long Show, seven hundred world up in
Speaker 1: the snowy Monday morning. Not the most ideal start to
Speaker 1: the week, for sure. Could be worse. It could be
Speaker 1: in New York City. They're gonna hammered right now. All right,
Speaker 1: your price is your wallet. The Supreme Court just ruled
Speaker 1: on Friday on Trump's tariffs. What the hell does this
Speaker 1: all mean for what we pay at the store? That's
Speaker 1: the question. Tariffs. It's all confusing. Even the experts are
Speaker 1: confused by it. I'm confused by you are as well.
Speaker 1: Money's coming into the treasury through this thing where we're
Speaker 1: going to get two thousand dollars checks. So then why
Speaker 1: do we do this in the first place if it's
Speaker 1: just going to be a rebate? And not only that,
Speaker 1: what does the future hold here when it comes to
Speaker 1: these tariffs. Michelle Schultz is with Schultz Trade Law in Dallas,
Speaker 1: an expert on such things, joining the show this morning. Michelle,
Speaker 1: how are you well?
Speaker 2: How are you five?
Speaker 1: That's fine, everything's good except for tariffs. So Friday Supreme
Speaker 1: Court rule six y three that the tariffs are legal,
Speaker 1: and the court said, look, This is not your job.
Speaker 1: This is a job of Congress. And we've collected some
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy five billion in tariff revenue right now,
Speaker 1: it's all up in the air, and companies are all
Speaker 1: lined up going, hey, guess what give us our money back? Here?
Speaker 1: What the hell does this all mean? It would be
Speaker 1: the question. And then Trump hassigned a new executive order
Speaker 1: and we're going to go with fifteen percent tariffs now
Speaker 1: as a workaround of this whole thing. And everyone's head
Speaker 1: is spinning, going, Okay, I just want cheaper beef. I
Speaker 1: want to buy a Hamburger and not have to get
Speaker 1: a second mortgage. Let's jump into this whole thing, Michelle,
Speaker 1: and I guess the question is why do to take
Speaker 1: now until now for this to hit the Supreme Court?
Speaker 1: This is a lot to spend on the books. What
Speaker 1: since nineteen seventy.
Speaker 2: Seven, Yes, I mean, well nineteen seventy four, technically the
Speaker 2: Trade Act of nineteen seventy four, And I guess, well,
Speaker 2: that's the new one that we're using. The nineteen seventy
Speaker 2: seven would be the original one, and that's the one
Speaker 2: that was struck down. So yeah, we've been using the AEPA,
Speaker 2: which is known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act
Speaker 2: for many years, since nineteen seventy seven, that one, and
Speaker 2: we use it for things that are national emergencies, like
Speaker 2: export controls. We don't want things, we don't want our
Speaker 2: goods and our technology getting in the hands of the
Speaker 2: wrong people so that they're used against us. But this
Speaker 2: one is being used for terrorists. So it's it's been
Speaker 2: the Supreme Court has really struggled with what to do
Speaker 2: with this.
Speaker 1: One, obviously too, as split as they were. Trump not
Speaker 1: happy about it. But now he's got a workaround that.
Speaker 1: I guess another section of this law that says, well,
Speaker 1: now we can kick a fifteen percent trade allotment in
Speaker 1: for one hundred and fifty days till Congress extends them.
Speaker 1: And it seems like, if I'm reading this incorrectly, he can.
Speaker 1: He's just transferred one terror for another and saying, all right,
Speaker 1: this one expires as an emergency in one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty days, and I'll just come up with another reason
Speaker 1: why to extend another one hundred and fifty days. Is
Speaker 1: that what's going to happen?
Speaker 2: That's what I expect. Yes, I think you're right on
Speaker 2: with that this new tariff is going to be maxed
Speaker 2: out at fifteen percent. So there's some good news, but
Speaker 2: it's this one is the one that's nineteen seventy seven
Speaker 2: under Section one twenty two of the Trade Act, and
Speaker 2: this particular provision allows him a lot of authority to
Speaker 2: increase tariffs for one hundred and fifty days up to
Speaker 2: fifteen percent. And so where we had a baseline of
Speaker 2: ten percent with the AIPA tariffs, those are struck down.
Speaker 2: We now at fifteen. Yeah, so it's it's confusing and
Speaker 2: it's up and down, but they have figured it.
Speaker 1: Out, well, I guess. But you know, the markets hate uncertainty,
Speaker 1: and we're uncertain af right now. That is the problem
Speaker 1: until maybe Congress sorts this out and we have some
Speaker 1: permanent guidance here. But I don't expect that to happen
Speaker 1: anytime soon, considering the partial shutdown and the problems Congress
Speaker 1: has obviously, Now, what happens with one hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: five billion dollars that's in limbo right now. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you represent as a trade attorney, Michelle, interests that want
Speaker 1: to claw that money back on Well, if the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court rules against you you owe us the money we've
Speaker 1: been paying in tears how to And as a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, I think three justices, the three conservative justices,
Speaker 1: ruled against our ruled and wanted to keep this and said, listen,
Speaker 1: we get the argument, but this is going to be
Speaker 1: a master of the treasury. That's going to be the
Speaker 1: biggest question looming here is what do we do that
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy five billion dollars.
Speaker 2: That's really important, and I think that the justices were
Speaker 2: right said this is going to be a mess. But
Speaker 2: in my mind, that doesn't change what the law is.
Speaker 2: And the Constitution provides that Congress has to delegate this
Speaker 2: authority to the president. He can't use it on his own.
Speaker 2: So technically refunds are due. Customs is ready somewhat because
Speaker 2: they use an electronic system for refunds, and we've been
Speaker 2: advising our clients, the importers in the United States, to
Speaker 2: get their electronic refund process ready if they're planning to
Speaker 2: claim refunds. It's not going to be so easy as
Speaker 2: a check in the mail. You will have to actually
Speaker 2: calculate what you're owed and why and request a refund
Speaker 2: through an automated system.
Speaker 1: She is Michelle Schultz Schultz Trade Law. She's a trade
Speaker 1: attorney with the court striking down Trump's tariffs. And what
Speaker 1: this means because he's going to pivot and use a
Speaker 1: different section of that law that gives the one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty days unless Congress extends them. And so we're
Speaker 1: just swapping one tear for another. But what does that
Speaker 1: mean to the bottom line? And you know, these companies
Speaker 1: that are filing protective lawsuits to preserve their refund claims,
Speaker 1: how are you actually advising companies to protect themselves? Now,
Speaker 1: this is something you would have to start a while ago.
Speaker 1: And why it's important to get these suits filed because
Speaker 1: first in line gets the money right pretty much.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's the way it should work. And these
Speaker 2: lawsuits that were filed basically they they they stayed liquidation,
Speaker 2: which means that they put on hold the ability of
Speaker 2: customs to finalize the amount owed on these particular entries.
Speaker 2: But now we've got a completely different set of rules
Speaker 2: in place, and we've got fifteen percent not to mention
Speaker 2: section three oh one for unfair trade practices in section
Speaker 2: two thirty two for national security, we're already in use.
Speaker 2: And those don't go away. So we have some continued,
Speaker 2: some gone, we have new ones replacing the ones that
Speaker 2: are gone.
Speaker 1: I tell you, it sound like you gout. You know,
Speaker 1: this is your job. You're the smartest person in the room, Michelle,
Speaker 1: and you're like, still not one hundred percent true of
Speaker 1: what all this means.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we have meetings about it at least
Speaker 2: weekly with various trade groups. Everyone's confused, and everyone's advising
Speaker 2: the clients to get ready for electronic refunds. You're not
Speaker 2: going to just get a check. But on the other hand,
Speaker 2: we don't know what to expect, except that the administration
Speaker 2: seems to be relying on these other provisions. And I
Speaker 2: think within the next one hundred and fifty days, while
Speaker 2: they have this authority to impose fifteen percent, they will
Speaker 2: investigate other options like Section two thirty two and three
Speaker 2: oh one, and they so they have it, they have
Speaker 2: it lined up.
Speaker 1: Basically, it sounds to me like if you're counting on
Speaker 1: that two thousand dollars refund from this whole thing that
Speaker 1: Trump promised your way at the back of the line
Speaker 1: that did that just get kicked down, going yeah, you're
Speaker 1: not going to get too grand.
Speaker 2: That's what I would think. Yeah, I'm not counting on it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I'm not sure either. Yeah, okay, I'm just
Speaker 1: just making sure to be like, damn it, I thought
Speaker 1: it was going to get two grand. Probably not.
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 1: If you're a shopper online shop for that bat. There's
Speaker 1: a wonky legal term called deminimus, and the deminimous loophole
Speaker 1: remains closed and that pack did what you buy online,
Speaker 1: that's still in the fact explain that, yes, correct.
Speaker 2: So there used to be a deminimous amount of eight
Speaker 2: hundred dollars which required you to file a formal customs
Speaker 2: entry and pay duties. And if you didn't, if you
Speaker 2: were buying something pretty cheap under eight hundred dollars like
Speaker 2: I would normally do online, you did not have to
Speaker 2: file a formal customs entry, didn't have to pay duties.
Speaker 2: This administration took away the dominimus, so that now we
Speaker 2: as importers or US consumers in the end, have to
Speaker 2: pay duties on every item, no matter how small it is,
Speaker 2: even if it's under eight hundred dollars.
Speaker 1: And that was the workaround for a lot of Chinese
Speaker 1: companies undercutting American manufacturers and you know, the patent not
Speaker 1: in your area, but you know, patent theft and things
Speaker 1: like that. They turn around and crank out a cheaper product.
Speaker 1: Get on TIMU whatever and buy a four dollars sweater
Speaker 1: that would normally cost you, you know, seven hundred dollars
Speaker 1: in the store. I get a cheap and it may
Speaker 1: last two washings. But it's gon fallow our. They were
Speaker 1: exempt from tax and now this still stands. So it
Speaker 1: makes them on level playing field with North American manufacturers
Speaker 1: and manufacturers moreund the world.
Speaker 2: I think that is a good. That's the very positive
Speaker 2: way to look at it. Yeah, that the consumers, we
Speaker 2: do hear a lot of complaints about Dominimus because it
Speaker 2: ends up it ends up getting passed down to the consumer.
Speaker 2: And I'm also hearing now that if the cost was
Speaker 2: passed to the consumer, then there's no chance you'll get
Speaker 2: a refund because you've already gotten your refund from your consumer.
Speaker 2: So this just gets more and more confusing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and the market take confusion. See the reaction
Speaker 1: is this week this section one twenty two part that
Speaker 1: he's now enacted. It can't be in the pass. It's
Speaker 1: been very country specific. You know, he had his big
Speaker 1: chart out as the point of the countries that are
Speaker 1: Gonnat nailed and what the percentages are, and then if
Speaker 1: he didn't like the person he was talking to, they
Speaker 1: get hit with a higher tear. If this new section
Speaker 1: that he's using that expire one hundred and fifty days
Speaker 1: has to apply universally, does that complicate the trade deals
Speaker 1: the administration's already struck with countries like in the EU
Speaker 1: where they negotiated specific rates.
Speaker 2: I believe it does, and I think that's what we'll
Speaker 2: see moving forward. It presents a new obstacle. So I
Speaker 2: have clients who, for example, already emailed me and said
Speaker 2: I was exempt before, but now I have fifteen percent.
Speaker 2: So it's actually worse for me. And I think under
Speaker 2: free trade agreements they're going to have to negotiate what
Speaker 2: they're going to allow. For example, under the US Canada
Speaker 2: Mexico agreement, see if there are any exemptions that we
Speaker 2: can apply. But it actually is going to present significant
Speaker 2: obstacles for negotiating with new countries we haven't been thinking about.
Speaker 1: Michelle Schultz is a trade lawyer with Schultz Trade Lawn Dallas,
Speaker 1: on the show, talking and explaining what the after effects
Speaker 1: are of this decision by the Supreme courtA on Friday
Speaker 1: that's struck down Trump's terror of Trump has since come
Speaker 1: back and said, well, you know what, I'm going to
Speaker 1: find a work around here loophole, and we're discussing that
Speaker 1: that what's this basically means when you buy stuff or
Speaker 1: the price of goods going to come down, You're going
Speaker 1: to be able to afford what is in stores these days.
Speaker 1: You know, you go to the store when I'm when
Speaker 1: I go to the store and I look at beef
Speaker 1: and go beef ground beef. That's too damn expensive. I'll
Speaker 1: stick to chicken thighs. That's me and millions of other
Speaker 1: Americans are felt by this whole thing too. We're looking
Speaker 1: for some sense and some guidance here bottom line for
Speaker 1: businesses and importers, which you deal with, what should they
Speaker 1: be doing right now? Given the legal uncertainty around refunds.
Speaker 1: You may go, well, I don't know, importers, exporters. You
Speaker 1: know a lot of people have side hustles and and
Speaker 1: you know companies that are running out of their house
Speaker 1: or their basement or whatever or garage, and it's going
Speaker 1: to affect them as well. So what's the advice.
Speaker 2: Oh, yes, I mean they should be looking at all angles,
Speaker 2: maybe have a backup plan, be cautious about what you're
Speaker 2: spending because this is this does not mean that all
Speaker 2: the prices will go down. In fact, we're still seeing
Speaker 2: them go up because companies can't carry that burden any longer.
Speaker 2: They're having to pass on the amount to the consumers.
Speaker 2: And our clients are definitely doing that. Some folks are
Speaker 2: getting out of their business altogether and trying a new business.
Speaker 2: We've seen that, especially in luxury items which people just
Speaker 2: aren't going to be buying anymore very much. And then
Speaker 2: you know, I was on a farm the other day
Speaker 2: and the guy was telling me, Hey, I get my
Speaker 2: own eggs, I make my own lettuce, I got my
Speaker 2: own tomatoes. I don't go to the grocery store anymore.
Speaker 2: And that's all by design. So not to say we
Speaker 2: should all get a farm, but people are just trying
Speaker 2: different things.
Speaker 1: It is something to see. I don't know, and this
Speaker 1: is the first shoe to drop. Do you suspect more
Speaker 1: Supreme Court involvement is a very busy court session, for sure, Michelle.
Speaker 1: Do you expect more terror related issues coming out of
Speaker 1: the high coquarters. That's it.
Speaker 2: I think there could be more. There have been other
Speaker 2: lawsuits filed, and we have companies interested in filing different
Speaker 2: types of lawsuits. So I think you'll continue to see
Speaker 2: resistant lawsuits. But it's going to play out over time.
Speaker 2: And in the meantime we've got that measures where every
Speaker 2: country is now at fifteen percent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we'll see how it plays out. She is
Speaker 1: Michelle Schultz at Schultz Trade Law in Dallas. Thanks again, Michelle,
Speaker 1: great inside, appreciate.
Speaker 2: You, Thank you.
Speaker 1: Scott's a pleasure, take care you know, hear this and
Speaker 1: go I just want a little closure maybe the good Okay,
Speaker 1: well they strike it down, I mean, prices are coming down. No,
Speaker 1: so we're just gonna replace those terrifts with others. But
Speaker 1: at what about all the deals you spend all this
Speaker 1: time working out with other countries in the EU and elsewhere.
Speaker 1: What happens to that? Just it's all kind of like
Speaker 1: up in the air right now, So you wonder if
Speaker 1: that adds more confusion to it. Of course, tomorrow nine,
Speaker 1: the President will deliver his State of the Union address.
Speaker 1: Will be really interesting to see how how hard he
Speaker 1: kicks the teeth into the high Court because his initial
Speaker 1: tweets on true Social we're essentially saying, you know, we've
Speaker 1: got Republicans name only the rhinos, We've got liberals taking
Speaker 1: over the High Court. I'm not quite sure when two
Speaker 1: of the people on the High Court are people you've
Speaker 1: just appointed yourself in your first term, how they are
Speaker 1: somehow infiltrated in that you know, the conspiracy theory nonsense
Speaker 1: is out there. It's like now they pretty much swore
Speaker 1: to up all the Constitution. That's what this looks like.
Speaker 1: Now he's working around it with the fifteen percent trades.
Speaker 1: But I'm not quite sure. You know, at some point,
Speaker 1: and we're feeling it now. You look at your buying
Speaker 1: power ands diminished significantly, how much more pain you can
Speaker 1: stand as a consumer, and what that looks like for
Speaker 1: Congress and everything else. And we're quickly closing in on midterms,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure there are a lot of Republicans that
Speaker 1: are nervous beyond description because they see some significant backlash
Speaker 1: coming from all this in the midterm elections. And that's
Speaker 1: how things are run. Speaking of the president, there was
Speaker 1: a breach at mar A Lago yesterday. FBI investigating for
Speaker 1: I understanding he was a guy who came in to
Speaker 1: mar A Lago had a can of gas and a
Speaker 1: shotgun twenty year old that he had just purchased, and
Speaker 1: everyone that they spoke to, family members, friends and everything,
Speaker 1: because you know, the minute the guy's name is released,
Speaker 1: everybody starts doing a deep dive on who this person was.
Speaker 1: Twenty years old. Cording's family. He's like, well, you know,
Speaker 1: we're all we're all pretty heavy Trump supporters, so this
Speaker 1: was a shock to us. And he's a very quiet individual.
Speaker 1: Anytimes somebody goes in the shooting nut all the time,
Speaker 1: but shooting spret builda it's everyone going, well, I saw
Speaker 1: this coming. It's always like he was so quiet. We
Speaker 1: did not He didn't even like guns. He was scared.
Speaker 1: He didn't even know how to work a gun. Went
Speaker 1: and bought a shotgun, I guess, and showed up the
Speaker 1: box with the brand new shotgun, never been fired, was
Speaker 1: still in the original packaging, I guess, was still in
Speaker 1: this guy's car at mar A Lago, showed up with
Speaker 1: a can of gas and a shotgun, dropped the can
Speaker 1: of gas and leveled the pump action shotgun at law
Speaker 1: enforcement officers, which of course would be Secret Service agents
Speaker 1: and two of them, I guess are the I guess
Speaker 1: their Sheriff's deputies. Two they are there fire the fatal shots,
Speaker 1: and the FBI is asking for help on the breach
Speaker 1: at mar Laga going. This guy wasn't even on the radar,
Speaker 1: which is pretty scary, you know, and uncertain times and
Speaker 1: uncertainty like what we're talking about here. There people are
Speaker 1: clearly mentally unstable that are going to want to do
Speaker 1: things and take things in their own hands, which makes
Speaker 1: us all just kind of go, well, you know, if
Speaker 1: you're crazy people out there and they're triggered by this,
Speaker 1: you got some real problems going on. Speaking of problems,
Speaker 1: New York City, we got the Great Blizzard of twenty six.
Speaker 1: You know, we had record snow here in Cincinnati was like,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, in Cincinnati, Ohio, I don't New York City.
Speaker 1: It's like all the network affiliates that I have under
Speaker 1: the monitors here, they're all doing like round the clock
Speaker 1: of non stuff coverage, Like okay, well, when we got hammered,
Speaker 1: you you know, we didn't have eight reporters on the scene.
Speaker 1: Grant the biggest city in the country. I understand that,
Speaker 1: but you know, those of us have lived through the
Speaker 1: last big snowstorm we had. We got through ours. Really
Speaker 1: don't give a damn, but hey, they got twenty four
Speaker 1: inches on the ground. There's like up to I think
Speaker 1: up to twenty four inch and some areas out there,
Speaker 1: and it's just coming down at three inches an hour.
Speaker 1: We had one inch an hour and as a crisis
Speaker 1: managed three inches an hour. I've seen that. That is
Speaker 1: a lot of snow. When you can't see a quarter mile,
Speaker 1: it is. It's frightening, is what it is. Because you
Speaker 1: can get disoriented really quickly. I mean literally you walk
Speaker 1: out to your mailbox to go, wait, where'd the house go?
Speaker 1: It's that bad if you've ever been through that before.
Speaker 1: So twenty three twenty four inches in some areas out
Speaker 1: of New York City, there's over I think four or
Speaker 1: five thousand flight delays. I believe our seven thousand flight delays.
Speaker 1: So if you're flying to and from in that whole region,
Speaker 1: you are in trouble today. If you're headed out to
Speaker 1: CBG or Indye, Columbus or Louisville, for sure, let me
Speaker 1: get a news update in. We'll get all that caught
Speaker 1: up with you very the latest on what's happening in
Speaker 1: and around the world. We have Reds Baseball that happened
Speaker 1: this weekend in Arizona, the spot all of the snow.
Speaker 1: The boys are playing baseball. The boys this summer are back.
Speaker 1: I'll have Jeff Carr on from Lockdown Reds to talk
Speaker 1: about the first weekend of action and what you look
Speaker 1: for in the first week of spring training out in
Speaker 1: good Year. That's all coming up on the show. Coming
Speaker 1: up next on the show though, Speaking of sports, how
Speaker 1: about the US men's hockey team. Double gold for the
Speaker 1: US Olympians in the sport of hockey, and forty six
Speaker 1: years ago it was miracle on ice? Do you believe
Speaker 1: in miracles? In twenty twenty six, it's do you believe
Speaker 1: in ghosts? What do ghosts have to do with the
Speaker 1: men winning gold in Milan? Details six minutes away slowly
Speaker 1: seven hundred wlwt