After the Supreme Court rejected the comprehensive tariff policy, U.S. President Trump warned that countries attempting to play tricks within the existing trade agreements would face higher tariffs.
On Monday, Trump posted on the social media platform Truth Social, saying, “Any country that tries to play tricks using this absurd Supreme Court ruling, especially those countries that have been ‘harming’ the United States for years, even decades, will face higher tariffs (tax rates) than they recently agreed to, or even worse consequences. Buyers beware!!!”
Trump’s remarks appeared to be in response to the latest actions by the European Union.
The EU announced on Monday that it was freezing the approval process for the trade agreement reached with the United States. European Parliament officials stated that they wanted to understand the specific details of Trump’s tariff plans before advancing the agreement.
When asked whether Trump’s post was specifically targeting the EU, the White House did not respond.
Other major trading partners such as China, Japan, South Korea, and the UK have also signed trade agreements with the United States.
Trump’s tweets once again emphasized that he would continue to insist on imposing widespread tariffs unilaterally on products entering the U.S. market. However, the Supreme Court’s ruling clearly weakened the president’s policy flexibility in this regard.
“As President, I do not need to seek tariff approval from Congress anymore,” Trump said in another post on Monday. “Tariffs have been approved in multiple forms long ago, already passed!”
He stated that the Supreme Court’s ruling further confirmed this!
Last Friday, the Supreme Court rejected most of President Trump’s large-scale tariffs in a 6-3 decision. The ruling overturned the president’s practice of expanding the use of the IEEPA to impose tariffs on nearly all countries.
The legislation from the 1970s allows the president to “regulate” imports in response to an emergency situation posed by a “unusual and extraordinary threat.”
“We have not announced any special authority in economic or diplomatic matters,” Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court said. “We can only, and must, exercise the limited responsibilities granted to us by the Constitution. In fulfilling this responsibility, we believe the IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.”
During President Trump’s second term, the tariff policy shook global markets.
Following the rejection of the comprehensive tariffs, the President announced on the same day, based on Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, the imposition of a 10% tariff on global goods, lasting up to 150 days.
On Saturday, he raised the rate to 15%. He considered this a temporary measure to allow the government time to utilize other authorities, including Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, to implement longer-term tariffs.
However, since the Supreme Court Justices made their ruling, the government has not initiated any new investigations, which are a prerequisite for imposing long-term tariffs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Sunday that the Trump administration would cease collecting the comprehensive tariffs ruled illegal by the Supreme Court last week starting on Sunday, the 24th.
On the same day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dodged questions on potential refunds following the Supreme Court tariff ruling during an interview with CNN.
When asked about whether the approximately $134 billion in tax revenue collected as emergency tariffs would be refunded, Bessent replied: “That is not the key issue. Let’s be clear first, the Supreme Court gave a very narrow interpretation of the president’s powers under the IEEPA tariff provisions. We still have other tariff authorization provisions at work, such as the Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs.”
The Supreme Court did not make a ruling on the destination of the substantial tariff revenue. Prolonged litigation is expected to follow.