Trump threatens countries to abide by tariff deals despite Supreme Court decision

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff deals they agreed to, despite the United States Supreme Court striking down many of his far-reaching taxes on imports.

Any country that wants to “play games” with the Supreme Court decision, Trump posted, will be met with “a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to.”

The comment comes after Trump said Saturday that he wants a global tariff of 15%, up from 10% he had announced immediately after the ruling.

The court’s decision struck down tariffs Trump had imposed on nearly every country using an emergency powers law.

But the Republican president won’t let go of his favourite — albeit, now more limited — tool for rewriting the rules of global commerce and applying international pressure.

Trump has already signed an executive order enabling him to bypass Congress and impose a 10% tax on global imports, starting on Tuesday, the same day as his State of the Union speech.

A trio of Senate Democrats is calling for the government to start refunding roughly $175 billion in tariff revenues that the Supreme Court ruled were collected because of an illegal set of orders by President Donald Trump.

Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are unveiling a bill on Monday that would require US Customs and Border Protection to issue refunds over the course of 180 days and pay interest on the refunded amount.

The measure would prioritize refunds to small businesses and encourages importers, wholesalers and large companies to pass the refunds on to their customers.

“Trump’s illegal tax scheme has already done lasting damage to American families, small businesses and manufacturers who have been hammered by wave after wave of new Trump tariffs,” said Wyden, stressing that the “crucial first step” to fixing the problem begins with “putting money back in the pockets of small businesses and manufacturers as soon as possible.”

The bill is unlikely to become law, but it reveals how Democrats are starting to apply public pressure on a Trump administration that has shown little interest in trying to return tariff revenues after the Supreme Court announced its 6-3 ruling on Friday.

The ruling has countries like China and South Korea watching for Washington’s next steps, but financial markets took the news in stride. The ruling could potentially disrupt the arrangements worked out in trade negotiations after Trump announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries in April 2025.

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