Editor's note: Chris Hawke is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a journalist who has reported for over two decades from Beijing, New York, the United Nations, Tokyo, Bangkok, Islamabad and Kabul for AP, UPI and CBS. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The modern Republican Party has had two wings, both crucial to its ability to take flight. The first is the business wing, which wants low taxes and minimal regulation. The second is the social conservative wing, primarily interested in ending abortion, suppressing gay rights, protecting gun ownership, and defending the religious rights of Christians and similar culture war issues.

The two wings don't really have much common ground. The Republican educated elites who run corporate America are just as likely as their cosmopolitan Democratic counterparts to seek abortions, support gay rights and deplore gun violence. However, the two wings have had a tacit understanding that they need each other in order to gain power.

The old establishment Republican Party has been vanquished, however, becoming the party of Donald Trump.

The president's populism goes against decades of Republican orthodoxy on free trade, and Trump has trampled on norms intended to protect a stable business atmosphere.

For example, Trump makes comments with the goal of moving the stock markets. He bullies the head of the independent Federal Reserve, demanding changes in interest rates.

The president picks fights with private corporations, most recently suggesting a boycott against tire manufacturer Goodyear for reportedly banning Make American Great Again hats during its racial sensitivity training.

To retaliate for negative news coverage, Trump has personally stepped in to harm the interests of Time Warner, which owns CNN, and Amazon, whose CEO Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post.

Trump's unprecedented corporate tax and slashing of regulations have generally pleased the business community. But even auto manufacturers have objected that his environmental cuts have gone too far, destabilizing the market.

The president has unsettled trade ties with its major trading partners like Canada, Mexico, Germany and China.

Auto manufacturers Tesla, Volvo, Ford and Mercedes-Benz this week took a remarkable step, suing the Trump administration just weeks before an election over its tariff war with China.

The lawsuits aim to end tariffs imposed on some auto parts imported from China.

Tesla's filing to the U.S. Court of International Trade said the tariffs were "arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion."

Mercedes accused the administration of  engaging in "an unprecedented, unbounded, and unlimited trade war impacting over 500 billion U.S. dollars in imports from the People's Republic of China."

Earlier this month, U.S. importers filed over 300 cases challenging the tariffs in the Court of International Trade.

The suits argued the tariffs were motivated by factors other than China's technology and intellectual property practices, such as correcting a trade imbalance.

The suits also argue that the administration didn't adequately seek public input.

Earlier this week, the World Trade Organization ruled that the U.S. broke international trade rules by imposing tariffs on China in 2018 as part of President Trump's trade war.

Also earlier this month, a WTO panel ruled agreed with China's complaint that the U.S. tariffs violated a provision that requires members to offer equal tariff rates among WTO trading partners.

Trump has indicated he wants the U.S. to quit the WTO, a position not shared by the business wing of his party.

Trump's takeover of the Republican Party was aided by a compliant Senate. However, the court system has been a constant irritant to the president, pausing or even halting some of his more drastic policy swings.

During Trump's term in office, he has managed to degrade the independence and capability of the State Department, the Justice Department, intelligence agencies, Health and Human Services, and even the Postal Service.

Together with Senate Republicans, Trump has politicized the Supreme Court to such an extent that it may never recover its image of independence and impartiality, which justices for centuries have fought to maintain.

The recent lawsuits against the Trump administration by a wide range of businesses show that they still have some faith in the court system's independence.

Despite the court's liberal rulings over the past 70 years on issues of civil rights, it has throughout its existence been a bastion protecting corporate and business interests.

These companies risk antagonizing a volatile and spiteful president in order to seek relief from these tariffs, put in place under the backdrop of Trump "ordering" companies to leave China and aiming to decouple the economies of the two countries.

This is just one sign that the business or establishment wing of the party is starting to flee from Trump. Other signs include a number of prominent Republicans who have endorsed Biden.

Trump has clearly concluded that his populist base is more important to him holding on to to power than the establishment wing of the party. This decision is reflected in such low levels of fundraising that Trump suggested he might pay for his campaign himself.

The good news for the business community is that if Joe Biden wins the election, there will be powerful forces seeking to normalize relations and repair commercial ties.

The bad news is that based on the president's record so far, if he gets re-elected, even the courts will not be able to help them.

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