Asia’s US trade deals in doubt after Trump’s Supreme Court tariff defeat
India has already paused trade talks with Washington as other Asian nations are left to question the validity of their recent agreements
Trump responded within hours by invoking Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act to impose a blanket 15 per cent tariff on all US imports: the maximum permitted under that statute, which allows the president to act unilaterally for up to 150 days without congressional approval.
But this whiplash-inducing pivot has left several Asian nations questioning whether the trade deals they hammered out with Washington over the past year are even worth the paper they were written on.
“My sense is that Asian partners will be reluctant to request renegotiation of their trade deals, fearing that they might end up worse off,” said Wendy Cutler, senior vice-president at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former acting deputy US Trade Representative.