SEOUL, South Korea, February 21, 2026 (AP).— Governments and companies around the world were scrambling Saturday to determine the impact of the verdict of the US Supreme Court that yesterday Friday rescinded some of the broad global tariffs of the presidential government the Donald Trump.
The most recent turn in tariff roller coaster of USAwhich started when Trump returned to office in January 2025 and disrupted dozens of trade relations with the world’s largest economy, shaking trade officials since South Korea until South America and much beyond.
He South Korean Ministry of Commerce He called an emergency meeting today, Saturday, to understand the new panorama.
Tariffs not included in the judicial annulment
Some specific exports to USAlike automobiles and steelare not affected by the decision of the highest court of USA.
Those that have been impacted will probably now be covered by a new 10% tariff imposed by executive order Trump signed yesterday Friday.
Trump announced today, Saturday morning, that would raise the tariff to 15%.
Macron thinks about the tariffs that the Court declared illegal
In Francethe president Emmanuel Macron celebrated the institutional counterweights in USA and praised the “rule of law” during a visit to an agricultural fair in Paris.
“It is good to have powers and counterpowers in democracies. We should celebrate it,” said Macrón, but warned against any triumphalism.
Officials reviewed the terms of bilateral or multilateral agreements reached with EU in recent months as they prepared for new ups and downs.
Just yesterday, Trump He stated that he plans to impose new global tariffs of 10%, under different rules.
“I observe that the President Trump “He said, a few hours ago, that he had reformulated some measures to introduce new tariffs, more limited, but applicable to everyone,” Macron said.
“So we will look closely at the exact consequences, what can be done, and we will adapt,” he added.
Companies prepare for new tariffs
Alluding to the new threat of a 10% tariff, Sergio Bermudezdirector of an industrial park company Ciudad Juarez, Mexicolocated along the border with Texasindicated that Trump “It says a lot of things, and a lot of them are not true. All the companies I know are analyzing how it could affect them.”
The impact could be felt especially in Juarezsince much of its economy depends on factories that produce goods for export to consumers in USAthe result of decades of free trade between both countries.
The political lurches that occurred in USA over the past year have made many global business leaders cautious as they struggle to make forecasts and watch investment suffer.
Mexico sees the tariffs with a “cool head”.
Behind him US court ruling, the Secretary of Economy of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrardsaid yesterday Friday that the country was observing the duty with a “cool head”.
Ebrard pointed out that 85% of Mexico’s exports do not face tariffsto a large extent by the agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The secretary of Economy Mexican plans to travel to USA to meet with economic officials next week.
Business uncertainty due to Trump’s tariffs
For his part, the executive director of Tecma, Alan Russell, that helps American companies establish operations in Mexicohas seen its job become increasingly more complicated since 2025.
Your company’s workload has quadrupled as it deals with new import requirements.
A Russel is concerned that recent moves by USA only make things more difficult.
“We wake up every day with new challenges. That word, ‘uncertainty’has been the biggest enemy“, he expressed Russellof American origin.
“The difficult part has been not being clear about what the rules are today or what they will be tomorrow,” he highlighted.
In pursuit of possible tariff refunds
Now some United States importers who paid what could turn out to be an excess of tariffs look for possible refundswhich will likely be a very complex process, and some foreign companies might also want their share.
Bernd Langepresident of the trade commission of the European Parliamentinsisted on Deutschland radio that the duty overcharged “must be refunded.”
Lange estimates that only German companies or their importers in USA they overpaid more than 100 billion euros (118 billion dollars).
Swissmema major technology industry association in Swissalso celebrated the “good decision” of the Supreme Court.
Besides, Swissmem wrote in X that his exports to USA fell 18% in the fourth quarter of 2020 alone5, period when Switzerland faced tariffs from the United States much higher than most neighboring countries in Europa.
“The increase in duty has seriously damaged the technology industry,” said the president of Swissmem, Martin Hirzelin X.
However, he acknowledged that the outlook is far from clear. “However, today’s ruling still does not constitute a triumph,” he wrote.
US Supreme Court decision: Reciprocal tariffs are illegal ❌
🗨️ Swissmem President Martin Hirzel classifies:
“From the perspective of the Swiss export industry, this is a good decision. The high tariffs have severely damaged the tech industry. But: With today’s verdict… pic.twitter.com/71wRNGtab8— Swissmem (@swissmem) February 20, 2026
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