Why I'm Okay with Some of the Secondary Tariffs
Peter Zeihan
5 min
Globalization is gone. It's not coming back.
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Donald Trump
Chapters
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0:29
The Illegal Tariff Announcement
Donald Trump announced a new 25% tariff on Venezuelan crude oil.
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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
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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)
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