Why I'm Okay with Some of the Secondary Tariffs

Peter Zeihan 5 min

Globalization is gone. It's not coming back.

  • Donald Trump

Chapters

  1. 0:29

    The Illegal Tariff Announcement

    Donald Trump announced a new 25% tariff on Venezuelan crude oil.

  2. 1:05

    The Constitutional Violation

    Tariff authority belongs to Congress, not the presidency. Most Venezuelan crude ends up in United States refineries despite sanctions. Globalization is gone, requiring new economic tools regardless of legality.

Key points

  • 0:29

    Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Venezuelan crude oil.

  • 1:05

    The Constitution grants tariff authority to Congress, not the presidency.

  • 1:05

    Almost all refineries capable of processing Venezuelan crude are located in the United States.

  • 1:05

    Venezuela exports crude to brokers who then sell it to US refineries.

  • 1:05

    The primary brokers facilitating this trade are Chinese entities.

  • 1:05

    Tariffs effectively function as a flat tax on all Chinese imports.

  • 1:05

    Globalization has ended and will not return.

  • 3:14

    Existing economic tools from 1945 to 2015 require urgent updates.

  • 3:14

    Testing new policies under an incompetent administration is preferable to legal delays.

  • 4:23

    The US should experiment with arbitrary tariffs to define national interests.

Who and where

People · 1

  • Drawing of Donald Trump

    Donald Trump 5

    President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)

    Photo 1

1. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Donald Trump)

8:18

The Fire Hose of Chaos: Corruption

Peter Zeihan

The current system forces American importers and businesses to bribe the people who do spot checks. Arbitrary policies imposed by tweet will cause an erosion of rule of law throughout the corporate world.

6:45

Trump Gets Introduced to Section 301

Peter Zeihan

Trump is forced to use the slow Section 301 process because his arbitrary tariff approach was ruled illegal and he lacks the political power to get broader authority from Congress. The administration is stuck in a stall because the legal path is blocked and the political path is unavailable.

5:13

Stopping Trump's Tariffs with A New Trade Act

Peter Zeihan

The only body that matters when it comes to hemming in a president who's gone off the rails is the Senate. The champion of rule of law in the Senate has been roused and things are starting to move.

6:29

You Mess with the Don, You Get the Tariffs

Peter Zeihan

Secondary tariffs on crude oil buyers could force China out of the electronics supply chain. We are definitely moving into a deglobalized world and need different tools than we have used for eighty years.

5:06

Copper Imports Slapped with 50% Tariff

Peter Zeihan

A 50% tariff on copper imports retards the entire production process and ends the economic boom. These policies harm U.S. interests as if a Russian agent were whispering in Trump's ear.

AI-generated summary · model qwen3.5:9b-12k · prompt version whole-3.window-7.combine-10.s-f4be8e · video id uF6_AACp5C8 · Watch on YouTube