The mainstream media spent all weekend celebrating the Supreme Court's tariff ruling like it was V-E Day.
CNN anchors were practically popping champagne corks, and liberal commentators were declaring Trump's trade agenda dead.
Here's what they forgot to mention: within hours of that ruling, Ambassador Jamieson Greer sat down with Bret Baier on Fox News and calmly explained why it doesn't matter.
Trump's Section 122 Tariff Plan Was Ready Before the Supreme Court Ruled
Greer told Baier flat out that the administration had been preparing alternative tariff authorities long before the Supreme Court issued a single word of its 6-3 ruling.
"All of these options were presented to the president early on, before he even started his second term," Greer said.
That's not spin – that's strategy.
While Democrats and the media spent a year praying the Supreme Court would gut Trump's trade agenda, the White House was already loaded and ready on the backup plan.
Trump signed a new executive order the same evening under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 – a law passed by Congress that explicitly gives the president authority to impose tariffs to address trade deficits.
He later bumped that global rate to 15 percent – the maximum the statute allows.
Section 122 has never been invoked in the 50 years since Congress put it on the books.
Trump just made history with it.
Trump's Trade Deals With 19 Countries Survive the IEEPA Ruling
Here's the part the Left really doesn't want to discuss.
Over the past year, Trump used the leverage of tariffs to extract historic trade agreements from more than 19 countries – Japan, the UK, India, Indonesia, South Korea, the EU, and dozens more.
Those deals didn't evaporate when the Supreme Court ruled.
Greer confirmed to Baier that binding agreements with countries like Malaysia and Cambodia – where trading partners locked in 19 percent tariff rates and opened their markets to American goods – remain fully in force.
"Those agreements hold. Those agreements will remain. We will honor them. We expect our trading partners to honor them," Greer said.
Cambodia went from facing a 49 percent tariff on Liberation Day to locking in 19 percent through a negotiated deal.
In exchange, Cambodia eliminated all tariffs on American goods.
That's a Trump win the Supreme Court can't touch.
What the Supreme Court Tariff Ruling Actually Struck Down – and What It Left Intact
The 6-3 decision struck down Trump's use of IEEPA – the International Emergency Economic Powers Act – to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs.
What it did not touch: Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos, and national security goods.
What it did not touch: Section 301 tariffs on China that survived Trump's first term and multiple legal challenges.
What it created: a 15 percent global tariff baseline under Section 122, effective February 24th, while new Section 301 investigations launch to build the next permanent tariff structure.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the alternative authorities will produce "virtually unchanged tariff revenue in 2026."
The Left thought they killed Trump's tariffs.
They rearranged the toolbox.
Why Kavanaugh's Dissent Is the Real Story Behind the Tariff Ruling
Even Justice Brett Kavanaugh – who voted with the majority to strike down IEEPA – wrote in his dissent that the ruling "might not substantially constrain a President's ability to order tariffs going forward" because multiple other congressional statutes "authorize the President to impose tariffs."
A Supreme Court justice who voted against Trump is telling his colleagues the ruling may change very little in practice.
Greer made the same point to Baier in plain English: "Although the tools may change, the policy remains the same."
Trump ran on tariffs in 2016 and won.
He ran on tariffs again in 2024 and won again.
The Supreme Court didn't touch that mandate – it just directed the administration toward tools Congress has had sitting on the shelf for 50 years.
Trump signed the first one before the news cycle closed on Friday night.
And when Section 301 investigations finish in the coming months, the next round of tariffs will arrive with stronger legal armor than IEEPA ever had.
Sources:
- Jamieson Greer, "US Trade Rep Jamieson Greer on Tariffs: We Will Use 'Alternative Authorities' That Congress Has Delegated," Fox News via RealClearPolitics, February 21, 2026.
- The White House, "Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Imposes a Temporary Import Duty to Address Fundamental International Payment Problems," whitehouse.gov, February 20, 2026.
- Amy Howe, "Supreme Court strikes down tariffs," SCOTUSblog, February 20, 2026.
- Dan Avery, "Trump announces new 10% global tariff after raging over Supreme Court loss," CNBC, February 20, 2026.
- Ambassador Jamieson Greer, "Ambassador Greer Issues Statement on U.S. Trade Deals with Southeast Asian Countries," USTR, October 2025.