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US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Friday said that the trade deals signed by the United States with countries from across the world would continue to remain in place despite the Supreme Court ruling and listed several other tools which maight be used to implement the trade deals, noting that while the tools may change, the policy remains the same.
He made the remarks in an interview to Fox News. Sharing the details in a post on X, Greer said, "Our trade deals covering over half of the world's population remain in full effect." https://x.com/USTradeRep/status/2025017644953288885?s=20 On the tariffs he noted that trade deals have opened up market access and cover more than half of the global population, adding that he expects the partner countries to "honour them". "It helped us obtain tons of deals covering half of the world's population and opening up market access we haven't enjoyed for 30 years and we have these agreements so we'll just use a different tool. The tools may change but the policy remains the same and IEEPA was a part of that", Greer said. The US Trade Rep highlighted several other ways which the Trump administration may utilise to impose tariffs. These as per him include, "Section 122 which allows a 10 per cent tariff to be imposed on a temporary basis... Simultaneously, the office of the US Trade Representative will initiate a number of investigations under Section 301 of unfair trading practices by a number of different countries to assess if we can impose tariffs on that basis if we need to... We have existing national security tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum etc. So the tools may change but the policy remains the same." When asked about the existing trade agreements, Greer said, "Those agreements hold. They remain, we will honour them and we expect our trading partners to honour them". His remarks come as US President Donald Trump announced 10 per cent global tariffs "effective immediately," following a major legal defeat at the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Trump administration exceeded its legal authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 to impose broad-based import tariffs. Terming the SC's ruling as a "terrible decision", Trump announced he would sign an executive order for a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. This authority allows for a temporary import surcharge (up to 15%) for 150 days to address balance-of-payments deficits. "Effective immediately, all the national security tariffs under Section 232 and existing Section 301 tariffs remain in place... Today, I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122 over and above our normal tariffs already being charged," he said. Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and the three liberal justices, held that the IEEPA does not explicitly authorise the president to levy duties--a power the Constitution assigns to Congress. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented, supporting the administration's broader interpretation of emergency powers. The ruling invalidated billions of dollars in "reciprocal" and emergency tariffs, potentially requiring the government to refund approximately $130-$175 billion in collected revenue. US Supreme Court has held that the US President did not possess the authority under IEEPA to impose extensive import duties on goods from nearly all US trading partners. Trump has already stated that "alternatives will be used" to replace the tariffs that the court has "incorrectly rejected." "Other alternatives will now be used to replace the ones that the court incorrectly rejected. We have alternatives. Could be more money, we will take in more money... We have taken in hundreds of billions of dollars. We will continue to do so," he said. Trump, referring to the decision as "ludicrous", added that this decision benefits other countries but not the US. He further alleged that the courts are "swayed by foreign interests." (ANI)
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