Mon, 23 Feb 2026

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 Trump threatens countries that 'play games' with existing trade deals

The threat comes after the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Trump had exceeded his authority in enacting a sweeping global programme of tariffs.

* Donald Trump has threatened to impose higher tariffs on countries that "play games" with recent trade deals, after the Supreme Court blocked many of his previous tariff measures.
* The European Union and India have suspended their ratification of trade deals with the US, pending clarification on the status of agreements made in response to Trump's initial tariffs.
* Trump warned countries not to use the court's ruling as an excuse to back out of commitments, saying "any country that wants to 'play games' will be met with a much higher tariff and worse".
* The US Trade Representative has said that the White House is standing by trade deals struck with other countries, but some countries are still uncertain about their status.
* Trump's new 15% global tariff is set to come into force on Tuesday, although it will expire after 150 days unless Congress votes to extend it.
* Democrats have warned they will block any attempt to extend the tariffs, and some Republicans are also opposed to them.
* The trade uncertainty has caused shares in the US to fall, with the S&P 500 dropping by about 1%.
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