“Buyer Beware”: Trump Threatens “Much Higher Tariffs” After SCOTUS Defeat

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a characteristic show of defiance, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to warn that any country utilizing the Supreme Court’s recent “unlawful” verdict to challenge U.S. trade policy would face swift retaliation. “Any Country that wants to ‘play games’… will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse,” Trump wrote, targeting nations he claims have “ripped off” the U.S. for decades.

The SCOTUS Blow: Why the 18% Tariff Fell

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in a landmark decision, stating that the President exceeded his constitutional authority.

• The Legal Overstep: Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that using the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—a law intended for freezing assets of adversaries—to impose broad trade taxes on allies required “clear congressional authorization.”
• The Impact on India: Before the ruling, India had successfully negotiated its specific tariff rate down from a staggering 50% to 18%. The SCOTUS ruling effectively invalidated those collections under the IEEPA framework.

The Administration’s Pivot: From 10% to 15%

Refusing to concede, the White House has initiated a “legal workaround” using different trade provisions:

1. Friday Executive Order: Immediately after the ruling, Trump signed an order for a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
2. The Saturday Escalation: Less than 24 hours later, the President raised that figure to 15%, asserting that the higher rate is necessary to protect the U.S. economy from the “unstable” environment created by the court’s decision.
3. The Deadline: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has indicated they will stop collecting the previous IEEPA-based tariffs by the end of this week, replacing them with the new 15% surcharge.

Global Reaction: EU and UK Reconsidering

The President’s “Buyer Beware” warning comes as the European Union and the United Kingdom reportedly began internal discussions on whether to pause ongoing trade negotiations. Diplomats suggest that the instability of U.S. trade law—where a court can strike down a policy on Friday and a President can reinvent it by Saturday—makes long-term agreements nearly impossible.

Timeline: The Weekend That Shook Global Trade