Trump: "If we lose the tariff lawsuit, trade deals with South Korea and others could be invalidated"

U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 3rd (local time) that if his administration loses the reciprocal tariffs lawsuit, trade agreements the United States has concluded with South Korea and other countries could be invalidated.

At a meeting with the Polish president at the White House that day, Trump called the tariff lawsuit "one of the most important U.S. Supreme Court cases I've seen," saying this.

Trump said, "Our country has an opportunity to become incredibly wealthy again, but if we don't win that case we could become incredibly poor again," and added, "But I think we will win big."

Earlier, on the 29th of last month, a court of appeal ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which President Trump used as the basis for imposing reciprocal tariffs, grants the president authority to regulate imports but does not include authority to impose tariffs by executive order. The Trump administration plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Trump emphasized that other countries have used the U.S. in trade but tariffs allowed the U.S. to respond, and therefore winning in the Supreme Court is important. He also said that if they do not win the lawsuit, they might have to undo the agreements.

He said, "Now we've made a deal where the European Union is giving us almost $1 trillion. Those deals are all over," and added, "I would guess that if we lose (the lawsuit) we'll have to unwind that (the agreements). We've made deals with Japan, South Korea, and many other countries, and will make deals with others as well."

Earlier, on July 30, South Korea agreed with the U.S. to lower the reciprocal tariff rate imposed on South Korea by the United States from 25% to 15% in exchange for $350 billion in U.S.-bound investment (approximately 486 trillion won) and about $100 billion in purchases of U.S. energy products.

Seul-gi Lee, Hankyung.com reporter seulkee@hankyung.com