Governments and companies worldwide scrambled Saturday to navigate a Supreme Court ruling that struck down some of President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs — only to face an immediate complication: Trump announced he would reimpose them at higher rates.
The ruling struck down tariffs Trump had imposed since taking office 13 months ago using emergency powers. Trump signed an executive order Friday imposing a 10% tariff on certain goods and announced Saturday morning he would raise that rate to 15%.
The whiplash has sent officials and business leaders from Seoul to São Paulo into an urgent reassessment of their tariff exposure and trade strategy.
The volatility underscores a broader pattern that has defined Trump’s tariff policy: rapid shifts that leave trading partners and U.S. companies struggling to plan. Businesses report that uncertainty itself—not knowing which rules will apply from day to day—has become the primary constraint on investment and operations.
South Korea and Asia assess immediate impact
South Korea’s Commerce Ministry held an emergency Saturday session to parse the ruling’s fallout. Some Korean exports — notably automobiles and steel — would remain unaffected by the Supreme Court decision, according to the government. However, other Korean exports would likely fall under Trump’s newly announced tariff framework: the 10% rate signed Friday, which Trump said Saturday he would raise to 15%.
France weighs institutional checks and political reality
French President Emmanuel Macron used the moment to praise the institutional constraints in democratic systems. During a visit to an agricultural fair in Paris Saturday, he stated: “It is good to have powers and counterbalances in democracies. We should celebrate it.”
But Macron cautioned against optimism. Noting that Trump had announced plans for new tariffs operating under different rules, he said France would “carefully examine the exact consequences, what can be done, and adapt ourselves.”
European industry groups began calculating potential refunds. Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, stated on Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio that tariffs charged in excess of law “must be reimbursed.” He estimated German companies and their U.S. importers alone had overpaid more than 100 billion euros (equivalent to $118 billion) in excess tariffs.
Mexico and the U.S. border face mounting uncertainty
The policy shifts reverberated across the U.S.-Mexico border, where Ciudad Juárez’s economy depends substantially on factories producing goods for U.S. consumers.
Sergio Bermúdez, director of an industrial parks company in Ciudad Juárez, described the business climate as volatile. “Trump says many things, and many are not true,” Bermúdez said. “All the companies I know are analyzing how this could affect them.”
Mexico’s Economy Ministry said it was monitoring the situation with a “cool head,” noting that 85% of Mexican exports face no tariffs under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. However, business executives reported rising strain on operations.
Alan Russell, chief executive of Tecma—a firm that helps U.S. companies establish operations in Mexico—said his company’s workload had quadrupled over the past year as clients navigated tariff-rule changes. “We wake up every day with new challenges,” Russell said. “That word, ‘uncertainty,’ has been the greatest enemy. The hard part has been not knowing what the rules are today or will be tomorrow.”
Swiss technology sector counts losses
Switzerland’s technology industry reported significant damage from the tariff regime. Swissmem, a major Swiss technology industry association, described the Supreme Court ruling as “a good decision,” but emphasized that the underlying damage remained severe. Swiss exports to the United States declined 18% in the fourth quarter—a period when Switzerland faced tariffs substantially higher than most neighboring European countries.
“The increase in tariffs has seriously damaged the technology industry,” said Martin Hirzel, Swissmem’s president. However, Hirzel cautioned that “today’s ruling still does not constitute a victory.”