U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is urging trade partners to leave their deals unchanged after the Supreme Court dealt a serious blow to President Donald Trump’s tariff authority late last week, possibly imperiling agreements and leaving a messy and unresolved refund process.
“We expect our partners to stand by them,” Greer said on CBS News’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “And I haven’t heard anyone yet come to me and say, ‘The deal’s off.’ They want to see how this plays out.”
His comments echo those of other officials in Trump’s Cabinet in the wake of the 6-3 ruling from the nation’s highest court striking down the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which were designed to shore up trade deficits with other countries.
On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on those countries to “honor their agreements and move forward,” saying that tariffs could be reimposed under different provisions than the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the authority the Supreme Court barred Trump from using without congressional approval.
The same day, Trump slapped a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, a levy he increased to 15% on Saturday.
But despite the pleas from the Trump administration, at least one country is reportedly rethinking its agreement.
India, which struck a trade deal with the United States in early February and was due to meet with U.S. negotiators in Washington this week, has rescheduled those meetings, CNBC reported. The meetings were designed to finalize the agreement, which included a $500 billion investment commitment from New Delhi in exchange for a significant reduction in the U.S.’s tariff rate on Indian goods, from 50% to 18%.
In the event of any refunds, which the Supreme Court did not rule on, the process could be a long one.
After the ruling dropped, Trump lamented what could be drawn-out court proceedings about any payments, predicting it would last “five years.” Bessent similarly speculated they could go on for “weeks, months, years.”
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Greer also expressed uncertainty about the refund process on Sunday, asking the court to issue guidance.
“Well, we need the court to tell us what to do. They’ve created a situation where they struck down the tariffs and gave zero guidance on this,” he said on ABC News’s This Week. “Historically, you know, as a trade attorney, in my experience, courts will normally give you some instruction on what to do.”
