Trump uses 1930s laws to tax 60 nations
- Trump is using 1930s trade laws to slap import taxes on 60 countries.
- Canada faces 50% tariffs on cars and dairy to force quick trade negotiations.
- Washington now treats access to American shoppers as a bargaining chip rather than charity.
The administration found a backdoor. After courts struck down previous tariff attempts, the White House dug through old legislative archives for sharper tools.
On the Peter St Onge Podcast on August 3, 2026, Peter St Onge reported that officials are dusting off 1930s Depression-era trade statutes. The plan hits 60 countries with import taxes running up to 12%.
Canada sits directly in the crosshairs. Washington is slapping 50% tariffs on Canadian car imports and dairy products to force concessions on trade barriers.
"Trump is treating access to American shoppers like a membership fee."
- Peter St Onge, Peter St Onge Podcast
The target isn't just Canadian farmers. Washington used to treat foreign access to American buyers as open-ended goodwill. St Onge argued that the White House now views domestic market access as a bargaining tool.
The shift stems from frustration over how foreign regulators treat American businesses. Overseas governments repeatedly fine major U.S. tech firms billions of dollars. Washington wants to extract value before allowing foreign goods onto domestic store shelves.
This approach turns traditional trade diplomacy inside out. Rather than waiting on international body rulings, the administration relies on executive authority built into pre-war codes.
Foreign leaders who treated the U.S. market as a free resource face a new reality. Paying for entry is becoming the standard requirement.
The trade fight isn't expanding through new legislation. It is resurrecting old powers.
Source Intelligence
- Deep dive into what was said in the episodes
Ep. 183 News by the Numbers 8.03.2026 • Aug 3
- Peter St. Onge reports that President Trump imposed new 10-12% tariffs on 60 countries, including the EU and Canada, citing forced labor and unfair trade practices under authority 301.
- The Trump administration also uses authority 338 for up to 50% tariffs on Canadian goods like dairy and cars, aiming to pressure Canada into trade negotiations, despite some products being protected under USMCA.
- St. Onge states the EU has fined American tech companies a total of $40 billion, prompting a US investigation under Section 301 into Europe's alleged attacks on these firms, following a $1 billion fine against Google.
- Trump's strategy treats access to the American consumer market, which accounts for one-third of global consumption, as a negotiable asset, demanding other countries lower trade barriers and buy more US goods in return.
- Peter St. Onge reports consumer prices fell 0.4% last month, indicating roughly 5% annualized deflation, primarily due to plunging energy costs, which he argues contradicts predictions of inflation Armageddon.
- St. Onge argues Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Walsh risks hiking rates into a slowing economy, as underlying inflation, per Trueflation data, was 0.7% pre-war, not the 2% reported by government statistics.
- A new study cited by Peter St. Onge suggests electricity bills could fall 5% if a state doubles its data centers, due to fixed power infrastructure costs making additional customers cheaper per unit.
- Manhattan's median asking rent surged 8% to $5,295, totaling over $63,000 annually, which St. Onge attributes to New York's policies making rental housing unprofitable and dangerous, reducing supply.
- Peter St. Onge notes apartment listings fell 16%, availability dropped 20%, and the vacancy rate is under 1.5% in Manhattan due to regulations, contrasting with a healthy market's typical 6% vacancy.
- St. Onge criticizes proposals to freeze rents on approximately one million New York apartments, arguing it would render them unprofitable, driving landlords away and creating a two-tier housing market.
- Peter St. Onge contends that young people gravitate towards socialism because existing 'half-socialist' policies have broken housing, healthcare, education, and wages, leading them to falsely believe more socialism is the cure.
- Peter St. Onge highlights that economics papers performed best with 72% correct math, while education papers performed worst, with 97% of those attempting math getting it wrong, pointing to systemic academic flaws.
- The top 0.1% of US taxpayers, about 154,000 returns, pay 21% of federal income tax, averaging $3 million annually, which St. Onge notes is more than the bottom 80% combined.
- Peter St. Onge highlights that federal income taxes have become significantly more progressive; the top 1% paid 19% in 1980, but now contribute 40% of all federal income tax, a doubling of their share.
Also from this episode: (4)
Fed (1)
- Walsh has advocated a 'Robin Hood monetary policy' of cutting rates for Main Street, financed by canceling inflation from Fed asset purchases, and previously discussed rate cuts due to AI's deflationary potential.
AI Infrastructure (1)
- St. Onge refutes criticisms against data centers, noting studies show AI adoption drives 25% job growth, data centers use 1/30th the water of golf courses, and occupy only 1/2000th of idle farmland.
Education (1)
- A project examining social science papers found 46% had incorrect math, with only half clearing the bar of computational reproducibility; 97% of an initial 3,900 papers contained no numerical data.
Biology (1)
- St. Onge states that a Bayer and Amgen study 15 years ago found only 9% of 120 top journal cancer drug papers were reproducible, suggesting widespread issues in scientific research beyond mere math errors.