Days after the US Supreme Court struck down his signature tariffs regime, President Donald Trump warned countries not to back away from recently negotiated trade agreements with the United States, saying any attempt to “play games” would invite tougher penalties.
“Any Country that wants to ‘play games’ with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have ‘Ripped Off’ the USA for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to. BUYER BEWARE!!!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In a series of posts on Monday, Trump made clear he intends to pivot to other trade laws to keep tariff pressure intact. While the Supreme Court invalidated his earlier duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Trump argued the ruling left the door open for stronger action.
He said the decision affirmed his authority to use tariffs under other legal provisions “in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used.”
Trump also floated the possibility of imposing new licence fees on trading partners, though he offered no details. A spokesperson for the US Trade Representative’s office did not immediately comment on the proposal.
The warning comes as markets react nervously to uncertainty over the administration’s next move. On Friday, Trump announced a temporary 10 per cent import duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, only to raise it to 15 per cent — the maximum allowed under the statute — the following day.
The 15 per cent duty is scheduled to take effect at 12:01 am EST on Tuesday. At the same time, US Customs and Border Protection will stop collecting the now-invalid IEEPA tariffs, more than three days after the Supreme Court ruling.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, the European Parliament postponed a vote on the European Union’s trade deal with the US after Trump imposed the temporary duty. Under the proposed arrangement, EU goods would face a 15% US tariff with exemptions for hundreds of food items, aircraft parts, critical minerals and pharmaceutical ingredients, while the EU would remove duties on many US industrial goods.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said over the weekend that the administration expects to open new Section 301 investigations into alleged unfair trade practices by several countries, a move that could pave the way for additional tariffs.
(With inputs from Reuters)
