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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Feb26/25)
Trade: Trump threatens “obnoxious” tariffs after EU halts
trade deal Geneva, 24 Feb (D. Ravi Kanth) — United States President Donald Trump on 23 February threatened countries with “obnoxious” tariffs if they try to renege on the framework reciprocal trade agreements signed with Washington to date, after the European Parliament decided to postpone discussion on the agreement reached between the US and the European Union in Turnberry, Scotland last July. The Supreme Court “has also approved all other Tariffs, of which there are many, and they can all be used in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used,” President Trump warned on his Truth Social website on 23 February. With the United Kingdom and the EU having sought clarity on the US trade deals they struck last year, President Trump unveiled his seemingly bellicose approach on tariffs. Issuing several posts on Truth Social on 23 February, President Trump warned: “As President, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of Tariffs. It has already been gotten, in many forms, a long time ago! They were also just reaffirmed by the ridiculous and poorly crafted supreme court decision!” Before this post, he issued another warning: “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!!!” “DIVISIVE RULING” In another stark warning lambasting the US Supreme Court while threatening countries with dire consequences should they default on the trade agreements they had concluded with the US last year, President Trump said, “The supreme court (will be using lower case letters for a while based on a complete lack of respect!) of the United States accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior to their ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling.” “For one thing,” said President Trump, “I can use Licenses to do absolutely “terrible” things to foreign countries, especially those countries that have been RIPPING US OFF for many decades, but incomprehensibly, according to the ruling, can’t charge them a License fee – BUT ALL LICENSES CHARGE FEES, why can’t the United States do so?” He continued: “You do a license to get a fee! The opinion doesn’t explain that, but I know the answer! The court has also approved all other Tariffs, of which there are many, and they can all be used in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used.” President Trump went on to lash out against the Supreme Court, saying: “Our incompetent supreme court did a great job for the wrong people, and for that they should be ashamed of themselves (but not the Great Three!).” Three justices – Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh – dissented, while six justices struck down the reciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. President Trump further said: “The next thing you know they will rule in favor of China and others, who are making an absolute fortune on Birthright Citizenship, by saying the 14th Amendment was NOT written to take care of the “babies of slaves,” which it was as proven by the EXACT TIMING of its construction, filing, and ratification, which perfectly coincided with the END OF THE CIVIL WAR. How much better can you do than that?” He ascribed motives to the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling on Birthright Citizenship, arguing, “but this supreme court will find a way to come to the wrong conclusion, one that again will make China, and various other Nations, happy and rich.” He ended his posts with another rebuke: “Let our supreme court keep making decisions that are so bad and deleterious to the future of our Nation – I have a job to do. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” RESPECT DEALS The US Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Jamieson Greer, on 22 February, took to the airwaves urging countries to respect the reciprocal trade agreements reached with the US regardless of the Supreme Court ruling. Ambassador Greer told ABC’s This Week on 22 February: “The reality is, we want to maintain the policy we have, have as much continuity as possible, make sure that business understands this is the direction we’ve been going. We’re going to continue going this way.” When asked about the US government’s persistence to go ahead with the reciprocal agreements, Ambassador Greer maintained: “The policy hasn’t changed. The legal tools that implement that may change but the policy hasn’t changed.” In a separate interview with CBS News on 22 February, he said that Washington will not back out of tariff deals it has already sealed with a number of countries around the world, including the UK, the EU, Japan, Switzerland, and others, despite the Supreme Court having ruled that tariffs imposed in those deals were illegal. “We want them to understand these deals are going to be good deals,” Ambassador Greer said. “We’re going to stand by them. We expect our partners to stand by them.” Meanwhile, on 23 February, China’s Commerce Ministry called on Washington to lift the tariffs, saying that it is conducting a “comprehensive assessment” of the impact of the Supreme Court ruling. “There are no winners in a trade war, and that protectionism leads nowhere,” it said in a statement. China’s Foreign Ministry said that it would “resolutely safeguard China’s interests” against any further moves by the US to maintain the tariffs.+
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