US President Donald Trump has issued a strong warning about the consequences of eliminating the tariffs he imposed during his term. According to Trump, this measure could not only curb a “historic investment” in the country, but would also lead the nation to a “third-world” status. His statements were published on his social media platform, Truth Social, amid a legal dispute questioning the validity of his trade policy.

Trump’s defense focuses on the alleged effectiveness of his tariff strategy, which, he claims, generated investment commitments of more than €15 billion. This figure, which he himself describes as a “record,” is directly attributed to the “reciprocal” trade measures he implemented to protect US industry and the economy.
The debate intensified after a recent ruling by a federal appeals court, which ruled that the then-president lacked the legal basis to impose tariffs on dozens of countries. Although the court decided to keep these policies in place provisionally until mid-October, the ruling calls into question the legality of much of Trump’s economic policy.

In response to the court ruling, Trump insisted that time is of the essence and reiterated his intention to appeal to the Supreme Court. The former president predicted that, without the tariffs, the United States would lose its global competitiveness and its status as a world power, statements that add to the tone of his election campaign, into which he has transformed the defense of his economic legacy.

As the legal dispute progresses, economists point out that the possible elimination of these tariffs would have a dual impact: on the one hand, it would benefit consumers and importers by reducing costs; on the other, it could weaken local industries that have relied on this protection. In this context, trade tensions continue to dominate the US political agenda, with foreign investors closely watching the outcome of the legal proceedings.