The Loadstar Leader: Threat of the 'trump card' leaves forwarders in limbo

Photo: © Dreamstime.com

If Senate Democrats made it three wins from three in successfully luring enough of their Republican colleagues (four) to vote down President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff policy levelled at hundreds of countries, the reality for forwarders is “we’re simply in limbo”.

Last week, The Loadstar reported that as the US commander in chief was claiming victory in China, with the framework of a deal between the two superpowers agreed, several Republican senators had ignored advice from vice-president JD Vance to vote against Brazilian tariffs.

This was followed shortly with a vote to eliminate Canadian tariffs, and another, passing 51-47, to end the purported national emergency declared by the White House, allowing the unilateral imposition of sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs of 10%-50% against almost every country.

Some may have seen it as a “win” for global trade that would bring an end to the instability of the president’s willingness to, without notice, slap another duty on a country for some perceived slight – see the response to a tweet from Ontario premier Doug Ford.

But it is the hope that kills, and it seems many forwarders have become wise to the intricacies of US politics in the second Trump era, reading beyond the headlines that declared these votes a success for those seeking to halt the president’s assault on global trade.

One of these forwarders, active in the Americas, told The Loadstar that, while on the surface it seems things may be heading back to normality, the reality is far from it, noting that the vote was more symbolic than anything else – a rebuke to Mr Trump’s style of negotiation.

And they are not wrong. For the decision in the Senate to become enforceable, it needs to pass through the lower chamber of Congress, the House, where it not only faces a far harder passage, given the prospect of a presidential veto, and it must also wait until March 2026.

That’s because earlier this year, the Republican leadership in the House passed a rule that prevents them from considering tariff-related legislation until next year, which will delay its passage into law.

Even then, with President Trump likely to pull out his… ‘trump’ card, the presidential veto, House Democrats would need to gather enough Republicans to pass the measure by a two-thirds majority, a situation many commentators consider unlikely.

As such, the sense from forwarders is that while it is heartening to hear that many in the US are deeply opposed to the tariff policy – including, according to Doug Ford’s video here, Ronald Reagan – it is the man in the Oval Office who holds all the cards.

Of course, elected officials are impacted by voter dissatisfaction in a way that a two-term president is not, with one forwarder telling The Loadstar that costs around consumers’ breakfast, lunch and dinner tables were rising, “and tariffs were being blamed for this”.