Britain to work with US on trade deal impact; Canada says ruling confirms tariffs were ‘unjustified’
Trucks drive past cargo shipping containers at the Evergreen shipping terminal at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California on September 13, 2025. The US Supreme Court ruled on February 20 that Donald Trump exceeded his authority in imposing a swath of tariffs that upended global trade, blocking a key tool the president has wielded to impose his economic agenda. Photo: AFP
Trading partners of the United States on Friday cautiously welcomed a Supreme Court ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, with hard-hit Canada saying the levies were always “unjustified”.
Governments were weighing how the highly anticipated decision would impact commerce with the world’s largest economy upended through Trump’s use of executive authority to shape global trade since he took office a year ago.
Here is a look at how governments around the world reacted.
SC rules Trump tariffs ‘unjustified’: Canada
While the conservative-majority Supreme Court found by a 6-3 majority that Trump was not authorised by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs, the ruling does not impact sector-specific duties that Trump has separately imposed on imports of steel, aluminum and various other goods.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce cautioned against viewing it as “a reset of US trade policy”.
Read: US Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s sweeping global tariffs
“Canada should prepare for new, blunter mechanisms to be used to reassert trade pressure, potentially with broader and more disruptive effects,” the chamber’s president, Candace Laing, said in a statement.
Canada International Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the ruling reinforces its position that the levies were “unjustified”.
But he noted that tariffs causing the most pain in Canada — sector-specific measures affecting the steel, aluminum and auto industries — remained in force.
EU ‘analysing carefully’
EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said that the 27-nation bloc took note of the ruling and was “analysing it carefully”.
“We remain in close contact with the US administration as we seek clarity on the steps they intend to take in response to this ruling,” he added. “Businesses on both sides of the Atlantic depend on stability and predictability in the trading relationship.”
German industry group BDI was upbeat, saying it sent a “strong signal for the rules-based trading system”.
“The verdict is clear proof that the separation of powers in the USA still going strong,” BDI board member Wolfgang Niedermark said in a statement.
UK to work with US on trade deal impact
Britain’s government said it planned to continue working with Washington to see how the decision will affect the trade deal reached last year between the two countries.
“We will work with the administration to understand how the ruling will affect tariffs for the UK and the rest of the world,” a government spokesperson said, adding that the UK expects its “privileged trading position with the US to continue”.
The close allies agreed a trade deal in May that lifted tariffs on UK steel and aluminum products and slashed levies on British car exports from 27.5 to 10%.
Global repercussions
While Trump has long used tariffs as a lever for pressure and negotiations, he made unprecedented use of emergency economic powers under IEEPA upon returning to the presidency last year to slap new duties on virtually all US trading partners.
These included “reciprocal” tariffs over trade practices that Washington deemed unfair, alongside separate sets of duties targeting major partners Mexico, Canada and China over illicit drug flows and immigration.
The tariffs have sent nations scrambling to negotiate quick trade deals with Washington to mitigate the impact of the levies, and often pledging more investment in the US economy.
In the latest example, the US and Indonesia finalised a trade deal on Thursday that set a 19% tariff on Indonesian goods entering the US. The Southeast Asian country had been threatened with a potential 32% levy prior to the agreement.
