Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on foreign countries to honor their trade deals with President Trump after the Supreme Court blew up the legal authority for his tariff agenda.
If not, there could be “draconian” alternatives, he warned.
“I think that everyone is going to honor their deal,” Bessent said Friday on Fox News. “And there is the draconian alternative, that the Supreme Court reaffirmed, that the President has, he has a right to a complete embargo. He can just cut countries off.”
“I would call on all countries to honor their agreements and move forward.”
At stake are major trade deals the administration has already cut with nations like India, Japan, the European Union, and the UK – all of which were made before the high court deemed a key executive authority illegal.
Now the world is dealing with fallout and seeking stability.
Europe, in particular, is scratching its head over the next steps as
officials rethink a trade agreement reached in July 2025 that has not been ratified.
“Our basic assumption that President Trump could use another legal basis has to be confronted with the new contextual elements, including the analysis of SCOTUS’ decision,” a European official said.
Translation: The legal ground just shifted — and Europeans are making a close analysis of the ruling to see what Trump will do next on taxing some of the US’s biggest trading partners.
The shocking ruling has scrambled expectations inside the European Union, where policymakers had been bracing for a quick tariff relaunch under different authorities, another official said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump overstepped presidential power when he used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to set tariffs on from more than 100 countries.
That means the baseline tariffs of 10% on virtually every country in the world were struck down, as were steeper tariffs Trump put on nations he called bad actors on trade.
The administration used that same law to impose stiff tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China.
An angry Trump said foreign countries were “dancing in the streets” after the ruling.
“Foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic. They’re so happy,” the president Friday said in his first public remarks on the ruling. “They’re so happy, and they’re dancing in the streets.”
“But they won’t be dancing for long.”
Since Trump’s “Liberation Day” on April 2, 2025, where he announced that slew of reciprocal tariffs, nations have tried to make side deals to get more favorable terms.
Trump, however, said on Friday said he would find another substitute for the tariffs to keep them in place.
“We have alternatives,” he declared, vowing to keep tariff policy in place via a different path.
One of those methods could be Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. That law allows the president to impose those tariffs for 150 days, but then they would need congressional approval.
It’s unclear if he could get enough support on Capitol Hill to back his policy, particularly in a year lawmakers are facing re-election. There are other options but those could face the same legal test.
The president spoke specifically about a few of those trade deals, including with India, noting “nothing changes.”
Here’s the latest on President Trump’s tariffs following Supreme Court ruling:
And, Trump ominously noted, he is allowed to “destroy” trade.
“I am allowed to cut off any and all trade or business with that same country. In other words, I can destroy the trade. I can destroy the country. I’m even allowed to oppose a foreign country, destroying embargo. I can embargo. I can do anything I want, but I can’t charge one dollar,” he said in an angry rant against the court’s decision.
For European capitals already jittery about economic headwinds, the court decision landed like a thunderclap — and the aftershocks are just beginning.
Trump announced a new 10% global tariff by using a different trade authority that was not subject to the Supreme Court ruling. He said some trade deals will stand, while others will need to be revisited, but he declined to give specifics.
A defiant Trump said he would not ask for congressional approval for his new tariff decisions.
