Trump could ratchet up trade threats amid USMCA talks in International Shipping News 27/02/2026 The US Supreme Court decision that struck down some Trump administration tariffs puts a high-stakes review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the spotlight, experts told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy. The USMCA review, set to unfold in July, requires Canada, Mexico and the US to agree to maintain the 2020 trade deal that was negotiated by President Donald Trump during his first term. As it stands, products traded between the three countries flow duty-free if they are USMCA-compliant. This includes most metals and mining materials that are not subject to separate, unaffected sectoral tariffs. Now, with his preferred tariff authorization deemed unconstitutional, Trump could become more aggressive or unpredictable with new duties or in seeking other concessions as the USMCA talks unfold, experts said. “The main implication for the USMCA negotiations is that President Trump is now more frustrated and more in need of a ‘win,'” Robert Embree, vice president and senior economist at Rosenberg Research & Associates, told Platts. “He’s more determined than ever to prove that tariffs are good policy. This makes him more likely to use new, unpredictable threats of tariffs as we approach the summer USMCA renewal deadline. Trump may also be looking for additional tariff revenue, which is another reason that Canada could be vulnerable.” Experts are watching for potential Trump administration use of other legal authorities, particularly national security tariffs, referred to as Section 232 for the part of the law they rely on, and Section 301 tariffs, which respond to unfair trade practices by other countries, or Section 122 tariffs, which attempt to address imbalances in payments.These trade remedies require more due diligence by the US government, as opposed to the tariffs the Supreme Court struck down that were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Supreme Court finding may give Canada and Mexico some leverage, an expert said. But it could prove fleeting. “The president didn’t lose his leverage, he just lost a lever,” Barry Appleton, a managing partner at Appleton & Associates International Lawyers, said, according to Bloomberg. He added, “We’re going to see weaponizations of a variety of different tools that were never, ever conceived of in that way, utilized in that fashion, because the president does not want to go to Congress.” After the ruling, Trump criticized the Supreme Court for its decision, and he told countries not to “play games” over the tariff reversal. Trump said the US would issue more trade restrictions in the coming months. “For one thing, I can use Licenses to do absolutely ‘terrible’ things to foreign countries, especially those countries that have been RIPPING US OFF for many decades,” Trump said Feb. 23 on social media. The White House has issued no details on potential licenses. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who is the top US negotiator for the USMCA, has made it clear that Canada should expect higher US tariffs and agree to further open up Canadian markets to American companies. “When we go to other countries, and we make a deal with them … they agree that we can have a tariff on them,” Greer said, according to a Feb. 25 report by CBC News. “If Canada wants to agree that we can have some level of higher tariff on them while they open up their markets to us on things like