Trump Administration's Immediate Plan for Trade Tariffs After Court Loss

If the Supreme Court strikes down President Trump’s tariffs, the Trump administration plans to begin replacing them almost immediately with other levies, Jamieson Greer, the United States Trade Representative, said in an interview. Mr. Greer, who is Mr. Trump’s top trade negotiator, said in a Jan. 15 interview with The New York Times that, following any adverse ruling, the administration would “start the next day” to reestablish tariffs “to respond to the problems the president has identified.” Mr. Greer expressed optimism that the Supreme Court, which is currently reviewing the president’s use of an emergency law that underpins most of his tariffs, would rule in the administration’s favor. But Mr. Greer said that he and other advisers had given the president “a lot of different options” to achieve his trade goals at the beginning of the administration, meaning the president could turn to different legal authorities to impose similar tariffs worldwide. “The reality is the president is going to have tariffs as part of his trade policy going forward,” Mr. Greer said. The Supreme Court has been weighing the legality of the president’s use of a 1977 law, called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, to issue tariffs on trading partners globally over the past year. The court could rule in the coming weeks, potentially as soon as Tuesday, to revoke some or all of that authority. Alternately, the court could decide to allow the president’s approach. In the last year, Mr. Trump has declared numerous international emergencies to swiftly raise and lower tariffs on trading partners for a variety of reasons. The president has imposed tariffs to reduce trade deficits, stop inflows of illegal drugs and address other international situations. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.