It Could Happen Here: "The Fake Crisis Behind Trump's Tariffs"

Date: March 12, 2026
Host: Mia Wong
Podcast: It Could Happen Here (Cool Zone Media & iHeartPodcasts)

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Mia Wong unpacks the legal and economic sleight of hand behind former President Donald Trump’s new blanket tariffs. The discussion focuses on how Trump is invoking a long-obsolete law—Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974—under the pretense of a “balance of payments” crisis. Wong guides listeners through the complex but crucial concept of “balance of payments,” demystifying global trade accounting and revealing why the supposed emergency behind these tariffs is, in Wong’s words, “the fakest crisis that has ever existed.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recap of Recent Tariff Drama

• [01:47] Mia Wong outlines the backdrop: Trump had used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify tariffs, but the Supreme Court recently struck down this power, noting the Act never actually authorizes tariffs.
• In response, Trump immediately pivoted to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a new 10% blanket tariff—announcing plans to raise it to 15%, but then forgetting to (apparently distracted by other events like escalating international tensions).

“He has never actually, you know, raised the tariff rate to 15%, which he said that he had done. So it’s now just at 10% on the entire world instead of… all the sort of individual country tariffs that have been in place before.”
— Mia Wong [02:48]

2. What Is Section 122, and Why Is Trump Using It?

• [03:15] Wong reads the specific text of Section 122, highlighting it’s been almost totally unused in U.S. history and comes with strict limitations:

  • Only allows tariffs up to 15%.
  • Can only last 150 days without Congressional extension.
  • Requires “fundamental international payment problems”—namely, a balance of payments deficit or currency crisis.

• The real kicker: These specific crises don’t (and can’t) currently happen to the United States, as Wong will demonstrate.

3. What’s a “Balance of Payments”—and Why Should We Care?

• [06:40] Wong dives into the financial nitty-gritty, promising “Oh fucking boy, are you in for it because… Jesus Christ. Oh my God. Holy shit. This stuff is annoyingly convoluted, but it is also extremely important to how the global economy functions.”
• Defines “balance of payments” citing the St. Louis Fed:

“It’s a summary of all the transactions involving goods, services and investments between one country and all other countries over a given time... Any transaction that causes money to flow into a country is a credit, and any transaction that causes flows out is a debit.”
— [07:46]

• Explains balance through the analogy of a burger receipt: Both the burger (good) and the money (payment) are tracked, and together net to zero.

4. Why the U.S. Cannot Have a Modern “Balance of Payments Crisis”

• [12:00] Listeners are prompted to wonder: If balance of payments always add up to zero in accounting, how can you have a “deficit”?
• “Technically speaking, you can’t,” Wong says, exposing the core contradiction in Trump’s legal justification.
• The only way such a crisis can happen to a country is if it literally cannot pay for its imports/debts due to lack of the necessary foreign currency—impossible for the United States, since it issues the global reserve currency (the US dollar) and can, in fact, print more at will.

“We literally cannot have this kind of balance of payments crisis because it’s all our own money and we can just print shit in our own money. Jesus Christ. This is so silly. Losing my mind. Like, it’s not possible. You can’t do it. Oh my God.”
— Mia Wong [22:48]

5. Why Was This Law Written in the First Place? (History Lesson)

• [14:57] Wong time-travels to the early 1970s, before Nixon ended gold convertibility:
  • At the time, the U.S. dollar was pegged to gold—so a deficit in “balance of payments” could physically drain U.S. gold reserves.
  • The “deficit” then was not about trade, but about dollars (read: gold) leaving the country mainly due to military spending abroad.
• French President Charles de Gaulle infamously tried to trigger a run on U.S. gold by cashing in dollars for gold en masse, hoping to challenge U.S. currency supremacy.

“It’s always military spending. It is always fucking military spending. Holy shit. It’s the reason everything is broken.”
— Mia Wong [16:55]

• Once the U.S. dropped the gold standard (1971), this risk vanished for the U.S. The law (Section 122) simply became obsolete, but still exists on the books.

6. True Balance of Payments Crises: Where & Why They Hit

• [18:48] Most often happen in developing countries with dollar-denominated debts or currencies pegged to the dollar.
• In these countries, failure to maintain dollar reserves leads to inability to pay for imports, causing catastrophic economic meltdown—examples include Sri Lanka and Sudan.

“You will know if the US has a balance of payments crisis, because you will see the smoke and flames outside of your window.”
— Mia Wong [20:00]

7. Why Trump’s Justification is Disingenuous (or Just Ignorant)

• [24:49] Trump conflates a trade deficit (which the U.S. does have) with a balance of payments deficit (which is structurally impossible in the U.S. context).
• Anytime all “credits and debits” are lined up, they must cancel due to the way the system is built: “That’s just how it works… Nonsense. Absolutely. Bullshit.”
• Wong forecasts that the ongoing legal challenge will easily overturn Trump’s tariffs under Section 122, because no actual “crisis” (as defined by law) exists or could exist.

8. A Revolutionary Anecdote: Che Guevara and the Bankers

• [26:55] As a coda, Wong shares the story of Che Guevara negotiating with U.S. bankers after the Cuban revolution—Guevara’s understanding of payment balances allowed Cuba to secure its gold reserves, helping the fledgling revolution survive.

“You never know when you too might be at the head of a better revolution or you might be the one person in the new revolutionary coalition who understands what balance of payments is. And you too can get your gold out of the United States before the government realizes that you’re communist.”
— Mia Wong [27:45]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Trump is manufacturing a crisis to justify the next set of tariffs that he has imposed. Oh boy.”
  — Mia Wong [01:47]

• “The fakest crisis that has ever existed. And now you know how fake it is and also what balance of payments is.”
  — Mia Wong [24:30]

• “It Could Happen Here, the podcast that helps you take your country’s gold reserves. Like Che Guevara.”
  — Mia Wong [27:50]

Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:47] – Mia Wong intro & episode topic
• [03:15] – What Section 122 says and why Trump switched to it
• [06:40] – Explaining “balance of payments”
• [12:00] – Why the U.S. cannot have such a crisis today
• [14:57] – Nixon, the gold standard, and the law’s origin
• [18:48] – Balance of payments crises in the Global South
• [24:49] – Discrediting Trump’s legal justification
• [26:55] – Che Guevara, Cuba, and revolutionary financial literacy

Tone & Style

Wong’s language is passionate, conversational, and laced with dry humor and exasperation at economic nonsense. The tone is explanatory but irreverent, making arcane global finance both relatable and darkly comic.

In Summary

This episode dismantles Trump’s justification for new tariffs, revealing the cited legal “crisis” as a relic of a long-gone era and a fundamental misunderstanding (or misrepresentation) of how U.S. and global economics work. Wong turns a convoluted topic into an energetic, enlightening tirade—empowering listeners with both knowledge and a healthy skepticism of politicians’ economic “emergencies.”