Trump Suggests Trade Deals Would End If Tariffs Are Struck Down

A container ship at the Port of Los Angeles.

Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg

President Donald Trump insinuated trade agreements with economies including the European Union, Japan and South Korea would be axed if his global tariffs are ultimately ruled illegal by the US court system.

Trump on Wednesday said the duties gave him leverage to strike deals with major trading partners that saw the US raise import taxes on their products without retaliation — arrangements he said had given the world’s biggest economy “a chance to be unbelievably rich again.”