The upcoming tariff ruling by the Supreme Court did not seem to dampen the optimism of the United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, on Tuesday, January 20. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Greer nonchalantly commented, “It’s fine.”
The Supreme Court is expected to issue several rulings later on Tuesday, but it remains unclear if the tariff issue will be among them.
According to the latest updates, the Supreme Court issued three rulings on Tuesday, none of which were related to tariffs.
“We don’t even know if the ruling will come down today,” Greer said. “The cases will eventually yield results. The government has provided a clear path for the court to make rulings favorable to the government.”
He added, “The Trump administration has been considering these actions for years,” suggesting that if the court deems the tariffs unlawful, “we have plenty of alternative options to pursue.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, also expressed similar views on the tariff cases at the Davos Forum.
“I find it unlikely that the Supreme Court would overturn a president’s iconic economic policy,” he said.
“In the early days of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare), the Supreme Court did not overturn it, and they have recently emphasized this point again. The real issue is that President Trump has used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as a negotiating chip for geopolitical games in emergency situations.”
Trump invoked the IEEPA law to impose tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners. He became the first president to implement tariffs using the IEEPA, a decision that faced multiple legal challenges, ultimately reaching the Supreme Court.
Greer admitted that President Trump’s warning of imposing tariffs on Greenland had complicated relations between the U.S. and the European Union.
“I’m in the real world,” he said. “I understand how this has impacted Europe’s view of the U.S. and trade agreements.”
Greer mentioned that despite some hesitance within the EU to advance the U.S.-EU trade agreement, he is willing to separate the U.S.-EU trade deal from the Greenland tariff issue for independent handling.