New Zealand has reacted to news the US Supreme Court has struck down President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs with cautious optimism, though "considerable uncertainty" around US tariff policy remains.
The majority ruling found that it's unconstitutional for the president to unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power clearly belongs to Congress, striking down much of his sweeping tariff infrastructure as an illegal use of emergency power.
Speaking from the White House, Trump said he was "absolutely ashamed" of justices who voted to strike down his tariffs and called the ruling "deeply disappointing".
"Their decision is incorrect," he said. "But it doesn’t matter because we have very powerful alternatives."
Furious about the defeat, Trump said he will impose a global 10% tariff as an alternative while pressing his trade policies by other means. The new tariffs would come under a law that restricts them to 150 days.
Trade Minister Todd McClay said the US Supreme Court decision had the potential to be important for exporters but that "considerable uncertainty" was likely to remain.
New Zealand's exports had held up well in the US market since the 15% Liberation Day tariff, McClay said, with evidence that cost increases were being passed on in many cases.
"Any reduction in tariffs is welcome news," he said.
"New Zealand does not believe the 15% tariff imposed on many of our exporters is warranted given the average tariff rate applied to US goods into New Zealand is just 0.3%.
"Our Embassy in Washington will engage with their counterparts to get more information so we can continue to work with exporters, however uncertainty around US tariff policy is likely to remain for an extended period of time."
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