Alabama is watching and waiting to see what happens next following federal court rulings on Donald Trump’s tariffs. The Court of International Trade blocked the taxes on foreign products. An appellate court overturned a similar action in other federal court.
Alabama reportedly exported about fourteen billion dollars in goods and services to Europe and China last year. Those countries may retaliate. Peter Simonson teaches supply chain management at the University of South Alabama. He says Alabama probably won’t be helped when the dust settles.
“So the long answer your question is it will be a mixed bag. And I believe on the whole, it will hurt Alabama in the short run, and I think in the long run, also hurt Alabama.”
Simonson is referring to a combination of tariffs and a push to bring more manufacturing jobs to the U.S., which he believes will mean fewer jobs and lower pay because this technology is growing in efficiency compared with foreign competitors like Germany. Simonson says he’s waiting to see what Donald Trump does now…
The court said no, and he said, Fine, we'll wait until this gets sorted out precisely as he's supposed to in our constitutional system. Go to the Supreme Court, and my best guess is that the Supreme Court will uphold the ruling.” 7:33
APR’s interview with Simonson was before the appellate decision to pause a separate Federal court ruling to block Trump’s tariffs. The professor thinks ultimately that U.S. trading partners and the United States will reconcile and resume business.
