HONG KONG: Asian stocks mostly rose, and the US dollar fell on Monday (Feb 23) after the US Supreme Court struck down a large part of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy that had sent shockwaves through the global economy last year.
The rally was led by tech firms, which have been at the forefront of regional gains this year as traders turn away from Wall Street to seek out cheaper investments amid concerns about extended valuations.
Trump’s trade agenda was dealt a hefty blow on Friday when the country’s top court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act used by the White House to impose sweeping levies in April “does not authorise the president to impose tariffs”.
A furious president immediately vowed to impose a global tariff of 10 per cent under a separate authority, before raising it to 15 per cent on Saturday.
However, the development fanned a fresh round of uncertainty, with calls growing for the government to repay cash taken under the scheme and analysts warning officials would likely pursue other ways of imposing his tolls.
“The first observation to make is that IEEPA tariffs may be dead, but Trump’s trade regime isn’t,” wrote Rodrigo Catril at National Australia Bank.
“The administration has several avenues it can pursue, these are likely to be litigated over several years, but there is no sign President Trump is planning to back down.
“Another conclusion is that the tariff landscape is now more uncertain than before, uncertainty is not good news for any economy or market.
“Unless commonsense prevails, we could be entering a circular process where new tariffs are announced, then potentially overturned, only for new tariffs to be announced, and we do the dance again.”
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