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In 2018, after imposing steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Donald Trump famously tweeted, Trade wars are good, and easy to win. Trumps time out of the White House has not changed his mind on that subject. Since his inauguration last month, he has set about remaking American trade policy even more dramatically than he did in his first term. Two weeks ago, he imposed across-the-board tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China, and though he paused the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, theyre still scheduled to go into effect on March 4. This week, he once again imposed heavy tariffs on steel and aluminum imports (those will go into effect on March 12), and while in 2018 he had excluded imports from certain countries from the duties, this time around hes putting the steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from every country in the world. Finally, on Thursday, Trump rolled out a whole new set of import taxes, putting in place a system of reciprocal tariffswhatever the tariff a country imposes on U.S. imports of a product, the U.S. will now impose on imports of that product from that country. These moves arent surprisingTrump loves few things the way he loves tariffs, and appears wholly unconcerned about the fact that tariffs raise prices for both U.S. businesses and U.S. consumers. (As he put it earlier this month, We may have, in the short term, a little pain, and people understand that.) But what is striking, though little-noticed, is that Trump has been able to impose these tariffs unilaterally. Not only has he not consulted with Congress, but he hasnt even had the office of the U.S. Trade Representative make a case for why the tariffs were necessary. In effect, hes raising taxes on imports because he feels like it. Tariff loopholes This isnt something the people who wrote the Constitution ever envisioned happening. In fact, the Constitution does not give the president the power to impose tariffs or make trade policy. Instead, it explicitly gives those powers to Congress alone, awarding it the authority to set duties and imposts (taxes on foreign goods) and to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations. But Trump isnt getting Congress to pass laws imposing these tariffs on foreign importshes doing it by executive order, acting entirely on his own. How is Trump able to do this? By taking advantage of massive loopholes that Congress has created over the past 60 years, delegating much of its power over trade to the president, while taking very little care to limit what the president can do with that power. Trumps legal justification for his steel and aluminum tariffs, for instance, is Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the president to impose tariffs as high as he wants on specific industries, as long as the Department of Commerce determines that imports in those industries are a threat to national security (a term the law does not define). He justified his across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico by declaring illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling a national emergency, and then invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which gives him the power to impose tariffs during, yes, a national emergency. As for his reciprocal-tariff scheme, Trump will likely rely on Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows the president, through the U.S. Trade Representative, to impose tariffs in response to any act, policy, or practice of a foreign country that the USTR finds is unjustifiable or unreasonable (terms the law, again, does not define). A ‘national emergency’ The problem with all of these laws is that the language they use is so vague and ill-defined that they effectively enable the president to do pretty much whatever he wants whenever he wants. Trumps justifications for his policies are in many cases self-evidently ridiculous: Imports of steel from Canada or Australia, for instance, obviously do not threaten American national security, nor is the vanishingly small amount of fentanyl smuggled over the Canadian border every year a national emergency. But federal courts historically have been uninterested in overriding the presidents judgment about what constitutes a national-security threat, or an unjustifiable trade practice, and as a result have basically given the president free rein over trade policy. That has not been a huge problem in the past because presidents have only rarely chosen to impose tariffs unilaterally. When George W. Bush imposed steel tariffs in 2002, for instance, it caused considerable controversy, simply because that kind of action was so unusual. And before Trump, the national security exemption for tariffs had been used primarily to ban oil imports from countries like Iran and Libya (which quite plausibly did pose a threat to national security). Even when presidents did invoke Section 301, it was typically used to negotiate trade settlements through the World Trade Organization. Trump, though, loves tariffs more than any president in recent memory, and is no respecter of norms. So, he has happily exploited the loopholes Congress has left open, creating the situation of permanent uncertainty U.S. businesses and consumers find themselves in today, where we literally do not know if well wake up tomorrow to find a whole new round of import taxes imposed on the stuff we buy. Congress could, of course, fix this problem overnight by simply repealing the laws that have outsourced so much responsibility over trade to the president. The Constitution puts trade policy in Congresss hands for a good reason: Imposing tariffs is almost never something that needs to be done urgently and, like all tax increases, it can and should be done legislatively. Unfortunately, theres been no real support from either party in Congress for the idea of taking back power over trade from the White House. Last fall, Senator Rand Paul did offer a such a bill, one that would have required Congress to approve any tariffs the president wanted to impose. But it went nowhere. Now with Republicanswho, aside from the rare rebel like Paul, have no interest in challenging Trump on his pet issuein charge of both the Senate and the House, theres very little chance of Congress doing anything anytime soon. So we better get used to Trump Imposes New Tariffs headlines: There are going to be a lot of them over the next few years.
Category:
E-Commerce
Jeff Bezos once said, “I like to wander.” That may seem counterintuitive in a business world obsessed with speed, but in a relentless pursuit of momentum, many leaders forget that speed without reflection leads to burnout, inefficiency, and poor decision-making. A report by Asana revealed that nearly 70% of executives say burnout has affected their decision-making ability. The paradox is clear: The faster we try to move without reflection, the more we risk burnout, inefficiency, and short-sighted decision-making. Leaders often mistake pausing for procrastination. However, the reality is that strategic pausing is a high-performance leadership move that separates reactionary decision-makers from visionary leaders. Its not about slowing down indefinitely; its about creating intentional space for recalibration so that when we do move forward, we do so with clarity, focus, and impact. The high cost of constant acceleration We live in an era where agility and rapid execution are prized above all else. But speed without strategy is like driving a high-performance car without brakes; eventually, you crash. Consider what happens when leaders dont pause: Burnout skyrockets: More than 75% of employees experience burnout, and leaders arent immune. Urgency breeds exhaustion. Decisions suffer: Without pauses, leaders react instead of strategizingleading to short-term fixes, not long-term solutions. Innovation stalls: Breakthroughs dont come from busyness. They emerge from reflection, setbacks, and unexpected insights. When leaders dont pause, they burn out, make poor decisions, and stifle innovation. But what if the very thing we fearslowing downis actually the secret weapon for sustainable success? Science backs this up. The science behind slowing down Neuroscience supports the idea that structured reflection enhances cognitive performance and decision-making. Harvard Business School research has shown that leaders who regularly engage in structured reflection improve their productivity and performance by 23%. There are two critical ways slowing down improves leadership effectiveness: It activates diffuse mode thinking. When we take breaks from active problem-solving, our brains process information in the background, leading to creative insights and better solutions. It improves emotional intelligence. Leaders who pause before reacting better navigate difficult conversations, manage conflict, and lead with empathykey traits that drive engagement and retention. Jeff Bezos famously introduced the “Day One” mindset at Amazon, a philosophy that ensures the company never becomes complacent. While Amazon is known for rapid execution, its leadership regularly pauses to reassess its strategic direction. Bezos would take time away from operations to think long-term, a practice that helped Amazon evolve from an online bookstore into a global tech giant. I once worked with a biotech leader whose team was stuck in a cycle of continuous problem-solving, trying to rush a product to market. I encouraged them to step back and ask, “What are we missing?” That moment of intentional pausing led to a breakthrough that fundamentally changed the companys approach and resulted in a novel strategy no one had anticipated. The ‘Slow down to speed up’ framework for leaders How can leaders implement this strategy in their own organizations? Heres a practical framework: Pause with purpose: Book a 30-minute “strategy pause” into your weekly calendar. Treat it like a non-negotiable meeting. Ask better questions: Start your next leadership meeting with a single, high-quality question that shifts the teams thinking: What are we missing? Are we solving the right problem? Whats the long-term impact of this decision? Create space for strategic thinking: Encourage teams to step away from constant execution. Googles 20% Time policy, which allows employees to spend a portion of their workweek exploring new ideas, has led to some of the companys most successful innovations, including Gmail and Google Maps. Embrace rest as a performance strategy: Elite athletes know that recovery is as important as trainingthe same applies to leadership. Leaders who take intentional breaks return with sharper insights and renewed energy. Foster a culture of reflection: Implement a 10-minute debrief ritual after major milestones to extract key lessons. Encourage teams to analyze what worked, what didnt, and what could be improved. Sustainable success isnt about moving the fastest; its about moving with the greatest clarity. The leaders who make space for strategic pauses arent the ones who fall behindtheyre the ones who set the pace for everyone else. Before your next big decision, ask yourself: Am I moving fast just for the sake of moving? Or am I creating the space to move forward with clarity? The difference could define your leadership and your legacy.
Category:
E-Commerce
ByteDances TikTok and CapCut apps are back in the Apple and Google app stores after having been absent from both for nearly a month. And in a sign of just how popular both apps are, both apps have rocketed up the App Store charts. Heres what you need to know about their returnand why you might want to download them again while you can. TikTok quickly becomes most downloaded app Yesterday evening, numerous ByteDance-owned apps unexpectedly returned to the Apple and Google app stores after being absent for nearly a month. This includes TikTok and the video editing app CapCut. Both were removed from Apples and Googles app stores on January 18, just hours before a U.S. ban on the distribution of ByteDances apps came into force on January 19. Within hours of the apps’ return, they quickly shot to the top of Apples App Store charts. As of the time of this writing, TikTok is the No. 1 most downloaded app on the App Store, while ByteDances popular video editor, CapCut, which many TikTok creators rely on to edit their videos, is currently the fourth most downloaded app on the Apple App Store. While both apps are also back on the Google Play store, neither are yet in the top 25 most downloaded free apps chart, according to data from SensorTower. A possible reason for TikToks absence from the Google Play chartsdespite its No. 1 position on Apples chartsmay be because Android users have been able to sideload the app on Android phones since last week. Regardless, both TikTok’s and CapCut’s positions on Apples App Store charts exemplify just how popular the apps are with the general public despite the national security concerns the U.S. government harbors about them and parent company ByteDance. Why are TikTok and CapCut back in the app stores? When President Donald Trump returned to office, one of the first executive orders he signed was an order pausing the TikTok ban. Trump halted the banwhich came into effect the day before he took officeby 75 days in order to give his administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans. But while Trump paused the ban, ByteDances apps did not return to the Apple and Google app stores. One of the main reasons for this is that some legal experts were uncertain about whether or not Trumps administration actually had the power to pause the ban. If it was found the administration did not, and Apple and Google had returned to hosting ByteDances apps on the platforms, both tech companies could have been liable for billions of dollars in fines under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, the bill passed in April 2024 that authorized the ban. So, whats changed? Apple and Google received a letter from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi that assured the companies that the ban wouldnt be enforced immediately, according to a report from Bloomberg. This letter was apparently enough for both tech companies to feel that they are no longer at risk of finesfor the time beingif they once again host the apps on their app stores. You might want to download TikTok and CapCut soon Its important to note that despite the assurances Apple and Google received, and despite TikTok and CapCut being once again available on the app stores, the TikTok ban has not gone away. Right now, its just paused. That pause lasts until the first week in April. If a new deal acceptable to lawmakers and ByteDance is not reached by then, then the TikTok ban will go back into effect unless Congress repeals or alters the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. What this means is that, come early April, you may once again no longer be able to download TikTok, CapCut, and other ByteDance apps. So you might want to do it now while you still have the chanceunless, that is, you’re fine with dropping thousands of dollars on an eBayed smartphone.
Category:
E-Commerce
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