BEIJING
China urged the United States Monday to cancel unilateral tariffs announced by President Donald Trump after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down many of his measures.
The court ruled six to three on Feb. 20 that Trump does not have the authority to impose tariffs under a 1977 law he has relied on to impose sudden levies on individual countries, upending global trade.
Trump reacted furiously, announcing first a new 10 percent global duty on imports under a different legal authority, before raising it to 15 percent on Feb. 21.
China’s commerce ministry said Monday it was conducting a “comprehensive assessment” of the ruling’s impact, and called on Washington to lift the tariffs.
“China urges the United States to cancel its unilateral tariff measures on its trading partners,” the ministry said in a statement. “There are no winners in a trade war and that protectionism leads nowhere.”
The new 15 percent global duties are due to kick in today, and are expected to last 150 days with exemptions for some products.
“The United States is currently planning alternative measures such as trade investigations in order to maintain increased tariffs on trading partners. China will continue to pay close attention to this and resolutely safeguard China’s interests,” the Chinese foreign ministry said.
China’s warning comes weeks ahead of Trump’s planned visit to China, the U.S. leader’s first trip to the country in his second term.
But U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said a meeting planned for April between Trump and Xi is “not to fight about trade.”
The Supreme Court ruling was a stunning rebuke to Trump from a judicial body that has largely sided with him since his return to office.
It marked a major political setback in striking down his signature economic policy that has roiled the global trade order.
Several countries have said they are studying the Supreme Court ruling and Trump’s subsequent tariff announcements.
The European Commission called on Feb. 22 for Washington to abide by the terms of the trade deal struck last year with the EU.
“A deal is a deal,” said a commission statement.
“As the United States’ largest trading partner, the EU expects the U.S. to honor its commitments set out in the Joint Statement, just as the EU stands by its commitments,” it added.
“The European Commission requests full clarity on the steps the United States intends to take following the recent Supreme Court ruling.”
The EU and United States last year struck an agreement setting U.S. tariffs at a maximum 15 percent on most European goods.
![President Lee Jae Myung speaks during the public briefing titled “A Korea that dreams again of becoming a nation of scientists and engineers” at the National Science Museum in Yuseong District, Daejeon, on Nov. 7, 2025. [NEWS1]](https://charm-retirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/cde6dcbb-9bac-4efa-966b-9bd995b83677-1024x698.jpg)
