Trump Signals New Trade Penalties After Court Setback

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn his emergency tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a warning to nations on Monday not to back out of newly negotiated trade agreements with the United States, stating that he would impose even higher penalties under other trade rules if they did.

In a series of social media statements, Trump hinted that he would also charge trading partners license fees as stock prices fell due to uncertainties about his future tariff measures.

“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. BUYER BEWARE!!!” on Truth Social, Trump posted.

Trump said that despite the court’s decision to invalidate his tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, its decision affirmed his ability to use tariffs under other legal authorities “in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used.”

He made the suggestion that the United States might charge trading partners additional license costs, but he gave no specifics.

A request for more information on Trump’s plans was not immediately answered by a representative for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Following Trump’s imposition of a new temporary 15% import charge on goods from all nations, the European Parliament in Brussels agreed Monday to postpone a vote on the EU’s trade agreement with the United States.

Under the agreement, the EU would eliminate charges on many U.S. imports, notably industrial goods, while the U.S. would impose a 15% tariff on EU goods, with exceptions for hundreds of food items, airplane parts, essential minerals, pharmaceutical ingredients, and other goods.