Globally, people scrambled on Saturday to assess the impact of the that invalidated some of the Trump administration’s far-reaching global tariffs.
The latest development in the , which began when President Donald Trump returned to office 13 months ago and disrupted dozens of trade relationships with the world’s largest economy, unsettled trade officials from South Korea to South America and beyond.
South Korea’s Trade Ministry called for an emergency meeting on Saturday to grasp the new situation. Certain specific exports to the U.S., such as automobiles and steel, are not affected by the U.S. high court’s decision. Those that are affected are likely to now be subject to a new 10% tariff imposed by an executive order Trump signed on Friday. Trump announced on Saturday morning that he would .
In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron praised the checks and balances in the United States, lauding the “rule of law” during a visit to a Paris agricultural fair: “It’s good to have powers and counter-powers in democracies. We should welcome that.” But he warned against any sense of triumphalism.
Officials were going over the terms of bilateral or multilateral agreements reached with the U.S. in recent months, even as they prepared for new fluctuations. Trump said on Friday that he intends to impose new 10% global tariffs under different regulations.
“I note that President Trump, a few hours ago, said he had revised some measures to introduce new, more limited tariffs, but applicable to everyone,” Macron stated. “So we will closely examine the precise consequences, what can be done, and we will adjust.”
Businesses gear up south of the border — and elsewhere
Referring to the new 10% tariff threat, Sergio Bermúdez, head of an industrial parks company in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, near the Texas border, said Trump “says a lot of things, and many of them aren’t true. All the businesses I know are analyzing and trying to figure out how it will affect them.”
The impact could be particularly keenly felt in Juarez: Much of its economy relies on factories producing goods for export to U.S. consumers, a result of decades of free trade between the U.S. and Mexico.
The policy ups and downs in the United States over the past year have made many global business leaders cautious, as they struggle to predict and see investment take a hit.
Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said on Friday that Mexico was observing the tariffs with a “calm mind,” noting that 85% of Mexico’s exports face no tariff, largely due to the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement. He plans to travel to the U.S. next week to meet with economic officials.
Alan Russell, CEO of Tecma, which helps American businesses set up operations in Mexico, has seen his job become increasingly complicated over the past year — his company’s workload has surged by as much as fourfold as it grapples with new import requirements. He fears the latest U.S. moves will only make things more difficult.
“We wake up every day with new challenges. The word ‘uncertainty’ has been the greatest enemy,” said Russell, who is American. “The hard part has been not knowing what the rules are today or what they’ll be tomorrow.”
Seeking a share of possible tariff refunds
Some U.S. importers who paid what may turn out to be excessive tariffs are — likely a very complex process — and some foreign companies may also want a piece of it.
Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, insisted on Deutschland radio that excessive tariffs “must be refunded.” He estimates that German companies or their U.S. importers alone overpaid more than 100 billion euros ($118 billion).
Swissmem, a leading technology industry association in Switzerland, welcomed a “good decision” from the Supreme Court, writing on that its exports to the U.S. dropped by 18% in the fourth quarter alone — a period when Switzerland faced much higher U.S. tariffs than most neighboring European countries.
“The high tariffs have severely damaged the tech industry,” Swissmem President Martin Hirzel , while acknowledging that the situation is far from resolved. “However, today’s ruling doesn’t solve anything yet.”
___ Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers María Verza and Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City; Samuel Petrequin in London; and Jamey Keaten in Lyon, France, contributed to this report.