Okay, here’s the article you requested, focusing on the shifts in international trade during May and June 2025, using information you provided, and written from the perspective of Jimmy Rate Wrecker.
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The Month in International Trade – June 2025: A Loan Hacker’s Lament
Alright, buckle up buttercups. Your friendly neighborhood Loan Hacker, Jimmy Rate Wrecker, is here to debug the dumpster fire that is international trade. May and June 2025? More like Mayday and June Gloom for global commerce. We’ve got Trump 2.0 cranking up the protectionist dial, geopolitical tensions tighter than my budget after that triple-shot latte, and enough legal challenges to keep those white-shoe law firms swimming in billable hours. Crowell & Moring LLP? Yeah, they’re the heroes advising companies on how not to get totally wrecked. Let’s dive in, shall we?
The Executive Order of My Discontent
So, Trump drops an Executive Order in April, a supposedly aimed at “improving speed and accountability” in defense trade. My take? It’s like patching a leaky server with duct tape. Sure, it might look like a fix, but underneath, the system’s still vulnerable. He calls it a return to “conventional arms control.” I call it another layer of bureaucratic baloney, but what do I know? I just hack loans, not laws.
The bigger issue, though, is the tariff threat. This admin is waving tariffs around like they’re going out of style. You know how much I hate tariffs? About as much as I hate paying full price for Wi-Fi.
And that leads us to the lawsuits. First one dropped in Florida back in March, challenging these IEEPA tariffs. Now, the courts *should* be the firewall protecting us from this nonsense, but they usually give the executive branch a free pass on trade stuff. Legal eagles call it “deference.” I call it a bug in the system. Doesn’t mean the tariffs are a sure thing, but it makes fighting them an uphill battle, like trying to pay off student loans with Bitcoin.
Steel Yourself: Tariffs Are Coming
The doubling of steel tariffs in June is particularly galling. Supposedly, it’s to counteract “unfair trade practices.” Right. It’s gonna jack up costs for the construction industry and anyone else who uses steel. And guess who ultimately pays for it? You. Me. The average Joe sipping instant coffee because his budget got hammered by inflation.
The U.S. trade deficit is sitting at a cool $71.5 billion. Up from last month. And Trump thinks tariffs are going to fix that? Nope. It’s like trying to debug a program by randomly deleting code. You’ll probably make things worse. It creates more problems that it solves, leading to a legal team’s paradise.
I just saw a webinar from Crowell & Moring. They were telling companies how to deal with the trade landscape. Ironic how you have to pay specialists because of the actions of the government.
Compliance: More Than Just a Suggestion
Beyond the tariff tango, there’s a compliance crisis brewing. Crowell & Moring held a webinar on maritime compliance, focusing on OFAC sanctions. In plain English: don’t screw up and trade with sanctioned countries, or you’ll get hammered. Makes sense to me.
Then you’ve got the EU breathing down everyone’s neck with their Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. They’re making companies check their supply chains for human rights and environmental violations. The car industry gets called out on forced labor. I mean, come on.
Crowell & Moring decided to add Scott Wise to their team. From Microsoft. Having a perspective of a multi-national corporation in a law firm is good to provide counsel.
The Legal Eagle’s Nest
This whole trade mess is a goldmine for lawyers. The Global Trade Talks podcast, hosted by Nicole Simonian and Dj Wolff from Crowell & Moring, is dissecting court decisions and trying to make sense of this chaos. They’re like the sysadmins trying to keep the server from crashing.
The Court of International Trade is staying busy. Judging by the podcasts, the courts decisions may affect tariffs imposed under IEEPA. So at least they’re doing something. Even Willis Towers Watson is chiming in with their Global Markets Overview for June 2025. Everyone’s got an opinion on this train wreck.
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So, where does this leave us? Probably with more protectionism and more regulations. To survive, companies need to be quick to adapt and get advice from experts, otherwise there could be grave consequences. I mean, Crowell & Moring LLP is raking it in by just telling these companies what to do to remain afloat. The government is going to keep at it, the courts are there to say if they did anything wrong, and the lawyers will be there to give advice on what to do. The global trade situation is down, man.
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