
Macron warns against complacency after Trump revives 10 percent global tariff
POLITICO - Saturday, February 21, 2026French President Emmanuel Macron warned Saturday against celebrating too quickly after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, noting that Washington has already moved to impose new duties.
“We shouldn’t go too fast,” Macron said at the opening of the Paris International Agricultural show, hours after Trump signed an executive order introducing a “temporary” 10 percent global tariff following the high court’s ruling.
“We will look precisely at the consequences, at what can be done, and we will adapt,” Macron said.
The Supreme Court on Friday invalidated tariffs imposed under the U.S. International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Within hours, however, Trump signed an executive order introducing a 10 percent global tariff under a different legal authority, while keeping existing sector-specific duties in place.
Across Europe, leaders reacted with cautious relief to the court ruling, while warning that trade uncertainty is likely to persist. The European Commission called for stability in the transatlantic trade relationship.
Macron struck a measured tone, praising the role of institutional checks and balances while avoiding direct criticism of Trump.
“It’s not a bad thing to have supreme courts and therefore the rule of law,” he said. “It’s good to have powers and counter-powers in democracies.”
At the same time, he stressed the need for “the fairest possible rules” in international trade, based on reciprocity rather than unilateral decisions. France wants to continue exporting “our agricultural products, our food industry goods, our luxury, our aeronautics,” he said.