Global Leaders, Businesses Take A Close Look at Consequences of More U.S. Tariff Fails

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Governments and businesses around the world scrambled Saturday to determine the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down some of the Trump administration’s sweeping global tariffs.

The latest twist in the U.S. tariff roller coaster, which began when President Donald Trump returned to office 13 months ago and upended dozens of trade relationships with the world’s largest economy, has infuriated trade officials from South Korea to South America and far beyond.

South Korea’s Commerce Ministry called an emergency meeting on Saturday to understand the new landscape. Some specific exports to the United States, such as automobiles and steel, are not affected by the US high court’s decision. Those affected will likely now be covered by a new 10% tariff imposed by an executive order Trump signed on Friday. Trump announced Saturday morning that he would increase the tariff to 15%.

In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron praised checks and balances in the United States and praised the “rule of law” during a visit to a Paris agricultural fair: “It’s good to have powers and counterpowers in democracies. We should welcome that.”

But he warned against any triumphalism.

Officials were reviewing the language of bilateral or multilateral agreements reached with the United States in recent months, even as they prepared for new changes. Trump said Friday that he plans new global tariffs of 10%, under different rules.

“I note that President Trump, a few hours ago, said that he had reviewed some measures to introduce new tariffs, more limited, but which apply to everyone,” Macron said. “So we will look closely at the exact consequences, what can be done, and we will adapt.”

Christophe Petit Tesson via AP

Companies prepare south of the border and beyond

Alluding to the new 10% tariff threat, Sergio Bermúdez, director of an industrial park company in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, along the border with Texas, said that Trump “says a lot of things, and many of them are not true. All the companies I know are analyzing, trying to figure out how it is going to affect them.”

The impact could be especially felt in Juárez: Much of its economy depends on factories that produce goods for export to consumers in the United States, the result of decades of free trade between the United States and Mexico.

Policy swoons in the United States over the past year have made many global business leaders cautious as they struggle to forecast and see how investment will be affected.

Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Friday that Mexico was watching the tariffs with a “cool head,” noting that 85% of Mexico’s exports do not face tariffs, largely due to the agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada. He plans a trip to the United States to meet with economic officials next week.

Lynne Sladky via AP

Alan Russell, chief executive of Tecma, which helps American companies set up operations in Mexico, has seen his job become increasingly complicated over the past year: His company’s workload has quadrupled as it grapples with new import requirements. He worries that the latest US measures will only make things more difficult.

“We wake up every day to new challenges. That word ‘uncertainty’ has been the biggest enemy,” said Russell, who is American. “The difficult thing has been not being clear about what the rules are today or what they will be tomorrow.

Martin Meissner via AP

Seeking a share of potential fee refunds

Some U.S. importers who paid what could turn out to be excessive tariffs are seeking possible refunds (likely a very complex process), and some foreign companies may also want their share.

Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee, insisted on Deutschland radio that the excessive tariffs “must be reimbursed.” It estimates that German companies or their American importers overpaid by more than 100 billion euros ($118 billion).

Swissmem, one of Switzerland’s main tech industry associations, praised a “good decision” by the Supreme Court and wrote in

“High tariffs have severely damaged the tech industry,” Swissmem President Martin Hirzel said in X, although he acknowledged that the dust is far from settling. “However, today’s ruling means nothing yet.”

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Janetsky reported from Mexico City. News journalists María Verza and Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City; Samuel Petrequín in London; and Jamey Keaten in Lyon, France, contributed to this report.