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| ▲ U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 24, 2026, in this photo released by AFP. (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
Trump-congressional address
Trump says almost all countries want to keep trade deals with U.S., knowing new deal could be 'far worse'
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that almost all countries want to keep bilateral trade deals with the United States, knowing that his legal power as president to make a new deal could be "far worse."
Trump made the remarks during his State of the Union address, after the Supreme Court ruled Friday against his use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify country-specific "reciprocal" tariffs and other duties.
"The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made ... knowing that the legal power that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them," Trump said during the address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber.
"And therefore, they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement," he added.
The president reiterated that his administration has other legal tools than the IEEPA to maintain his tariff policy.
"(Tariffs) will remain in place under fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes, and they have been tested for a long time. They are a little more complex, but they are actually probably better, leading to a solution that will be even stronger than before," he said.
"Congressional action will not be necessary. It's already time-tested and approved."
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