U.S. President Donald Trump on the 24th (local time) reiterated in the State of the Union address that he would maintain his tariff policy despite the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs.
In a speech to a joint session of the House and Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., that day, President Trump said, "The Supreme Court ruling is very regrettable, but almost all countries and corporations want to keep the agreements they have already signed."
He argued that tariffs are a key factor in the U.S. economic recovery, saying, "We have secured hundreds of billions of dollars through tariffs, and countries that have taken advantage of the United States for decades are now paying the United States enormous sums of money," adding, "Tariff pressure has also played an important role in resolving various international disputes."
In particular, he stressed that there is a tariff tool as a "proven alternative" to replace the tariffs invalidated by the Supreme Court ruling, saying, "As time goes by, I think tariffs paid by other countries will substantially replace the current income tax system as in the past." This is seen as an intention to make tariffs a pillar of fiscal revenue beyond trade policy.
Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs President Trump imposed on countries around the world under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal. However, President Trump is seeking to keep tariffs at existing levels by imposing new tariffs based on other legal grounds, such as Section 122 of the Trade Act, Section 301 of the Trade Act, and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.
That day, President Trump spoke for 108 minutes, the longest State of the Union address on record, and heavily highlighted his economic achievements, including tariffs. He also said, "We have secured more than 80 million barrels of crude oil from Venezuela," and "U.S. oil production has increased by more than 600,000 barrels a day."
In addition, President Trump said that in connection with the surging power demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, he is pursuing "rate payer protection pledges." He said, "We are notifying major technology corporations that they have an obligation to solve their own power needs," adding, "If they build their own power plants on factory sites, no one's bills will go up, and in many cases community electric rates will fall."
He went on, "Our power grid is aging and cannot handle the needed electricity load, so I told them to build their own power plants and they will generate the power they use themselves." With the midterm elections coming in Nov., he took this step as concerns mounted that expanding AI infrastructure could put a heavy burden on the power grid and lead to higher electric rates.
On the global situation, he said, "We will seek peace if possible, but we will not hesitate to confront threats." In particular, regarding Iran, where there is speculation that U.S. military operations are imminent, he said, "We are negotiating with them," adding, "We have yet to hear the secret words, 'We will never possess nuclear weapons.' Iran must not have nuclear weapons."
On the Iran nuclear issue, he also said, "I prefer to resolve this diplomatically, but one thing is clear: I will never allow the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism to possess nuclear weapons." Referring to recent protests in Iran, President Trump also said, "Over the past few months, they appear to have killed at least 32,000 demonstrators."