WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday warned countries against “playing games” with tariffs after the US Supreme Court struck down his country-specific import duties, dealing a blow to a central pillar of his economic agenda.
“Any Country that wants to ‘play games’ with the ridiculous Supreme Court decision, especially those that have ‘Ripped Off’ the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to,” Trump wrote on social media.
The Supreme Court ruled last week that Trump exceeded his authority by using emergency economic powers under a 1977 law to impose sweeping tariffs on specific countries.
The decision marked a significant judicial rebuke of Trump’s trade policy, which has relied heavily on tariffs imposed through executive action.
New tariffs under different law
Following the ruling, Trump turned to a separate legal authority to announce new import duties.
He first unveiled a 10-percent global tariff before raising it to 15 percent.
The measures are set to take effect on Tuesday and will remain in force for up to 150 days unless Congress extends them.
In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump insisted he did not require congressional approval.
“As President, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of tariffs,” he wrote.
He also claimed the court’s decision had given him “far more powers and strength” and said he could use “licenses to do absolutely ‘terrible’ things to foreign countries.”
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he expected trading partners to “stand by” agreements already struck with Washington, including those with China and the European Union.
However, the administration plans to reimpose at least some of the tariffs under alternative laws, according to comments cited by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.
Federal Reserve watches closely
Speaking at a conference in Washington on Monday, Waller said the Supreme Court’s ruling was unlikely to alter his view on monetary policy.
“This ruling is unlikely to have a significant impact on my view of the appropriate stance of policy,” he said in prepared remarks.
Waller noted there remained “considerable uncertainty” over how long tariffs would remain in place and to what extent they would be reintroduced.
He added that the decision could have “a positive impact on spending and investment”, although it was unclear how significant or lasting that effect might be.
On inflation, Waller said it was too early to judge the impact.
Companies might reduce prices if tariff-related costs fall, but fresh duties could offset any such reductions.
He said upcoming labour market data would guide his stance on interest rates.
If employment figures weaken, it would support his earlier position that a 25-basis-point rate cut would be appropriate at the Federal Reserve’s March meeting.
EU puts trade deal on hold
In Brussels, European Union lawmakers moved to put a key EU-US trade agreement on hold pending clarity over the legal and economic implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling and Trump’s subsequent tariff announcements.
Parliament negotiators postponed a vote scheduled for Tuesday.
“We want to have clarity from the United States that they are respecting the deal,” committee head Bernd Lange said, adding that negotiators would meet again on March 4.
“In view of the current enormous uncertainty, a vote would not be justifiable,” Green lawmaker Anna Cavazzini said.
Under the EU-US trade agreement reached last July, Washington agreed to a blanket 15-percent tariff on most goods from the bloc.
However, European officials fear Trump’s new global duties could effectively raise the total tariff burden above that level.
The new 15-percent duty would be applied on top of existing “most favoured nation” tariffs, which typically amount to a few percentage points.
ALSO READ: EU Lawmakers to Put US Trade Deal on Hold After US Supreme Court Ruling
Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said this could mean EU manufactured goods face average tariffs of 17 or 18 percent instead of 15 percent.
“There continues to be potentially significant benefits for the EU to keeping the Turnberry agreement in place,” he said, referring to the EU-US deal.
Market uncertainty
The Supreme Court’s decision has injected fresh uncertainty into global markets.
It ruled on Friday that Trump lacked authority under the emergency powers law he had relied upon to impose country-specific tariffs.
China on Monday urged Washington to cancel what it called unilateral tariffs. Several other countries are studying the ruling and Trump’s new measures.
European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said Brussels could not take further decisions until it received greater clarity from Washington.
“We look forward to our American counterparts explaining to us precisely what is happening,” he told reporters.
In London, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom did not expect the ruling to affect the majority of trade under its 2025 agreement with the United States.
Despite the uncertainty, Kirkegaard said the situation was “much better” for Europe and others following the court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court has reduced Donald Trump’s personal capacity to do tariffs by tweet,” he said, adding that any future measures would now likely involve a more structured and predictable process.
