Responding to the US Supreme Court’s ruling curbing the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and hours after President Donald Trump announced an ad valorem 10% tariff for 150 days, US trade representative Jamieson Greer said the administration remains firmly committed to its trade agenda.
“The Supreme Court’s decision affects only one element of the administration’s work to reorient the global trading system in favour of American workers and businesses,” he said, defending President Trump’s use of IEEPA as “necessary and appropriate” to address external crises including fentanyl flows, illegal immigration, and the widening trade deficit.
Calling fentanyl a “scourge” that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, the Ambassador said the IEEPA tariffs compelled China, Mexico, and Canada to curb the flow of fentanyl and its precursors, while also pushing Mexico to strengthen border security.
He added that the trade deficit, which he claimed had surged 40% under the Biden administration, had begun trending downward in the latter half of 2025. Between April 1 and December 31, 2025, the goods trade deficit declined 17%, he said.
Despite the court’s ruling, the administration will “move in short order” to ensure policy continuity. A temporary 10% surcharge on imports will be imposed under Section 122. The administration will also launch multiple investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act targeting unfair trade practices—ranging from industrial overcapacity and forced labour to digital services taxes and discrimination against US technology firms. Ongoing Section 301 probes into Brazil and China will continue, and tariffs under Section 232 will remain in force.
The ruling, he stressed, addresses only the Reciprocal and Fentanyl Tariffs under IEEPA. Other measures remain intact, including existing Section 301 tariffs on China ranging from 7.5% to 100% and sectoral Section 232 tariffs of 10% to 50%, covering roughly 30% of US imports.
