Supreme Court decision against Trump's tariffs raises uncertainty, but markets stay calm

BANGKOK (AP) — The Supreme Court's ruling against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs has countries like China and South Korea watching for Washington's next steps, while financial markets took the news in stride.

The decision announced Friday could potentially disrupt arrangements worked out in trade negotiations since Trump announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries in April 2025.

China's Commerce Ministry said it was conducting a “comprehensive assessment of ” the ruling against the tariffs Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.

“China urges the United States to lift the unilateral tariffs imposed on trading partners,” an unnamed ministry spokesman said in a statement.

The statement reiterated Beijing's stance that there are no winners in a trade war and that the measures Trump had announced “not only violate international economic and trade rules but also contravene domestic laws of the United States, and are not in the interests of any party," the official Xinhua News Agency cited the spokesperson as saying.

Trump responded to the Supreme Court decision by proposing a new 10% global tariff under an alternative law, Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, and later increased it to 15%.

For China and some other countries in Asia that were subject to higher import duties on their exports, that could potentially bring some relief. But for others such as Japan, the United Kingdom and other U.S. allies, tariffs could rise.

The U.S. plans to stand by its trade deals and expects its partners to do the same, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a CBS News interview Sunday.

“The deals were not premised on whether or not the emergency tariff litigation would rise or fall,” said Greer, Trump’s top trade negotiator. “I haven’t heard anyone yet come to me and say the deal’s off. They want to see how this plays out.”

Uncertainty may worsen if the Trump administration continues imposing new tariffs under alternative laws, South Korea's trade minister, Kim Jung-kwan, said Monday.

The South Koreans have agreed to hold “amicable” discussions with U.S. officials in order to minimize any negative impact on South Korean companies, he said. Major South Korean exports such as autos and steel are subject to tariffs under other trade laws.

“Given the uncertainty over future U.S. tariff measures, the public and private sectors must work together to strengthen our companies’ export competitiveness and diversify their markets,” Kim said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said Sunday that he believed trading partners would abide by existing deals and that tariff revenues will remain steady.

“Tariff revenues will be unchanged this year and will be unchanged in the future,” Bessent said in a Fox News interview, pointing to the new 15% global tariffs Trump has said he wants as a replacement.

The administration would defer to the courts on whether to give companies refunds for the import taxes already collected under the tariffs now declared unlawful, Bessent said.

“It’s out of our hands and we will follow the court’s orders,” he said.

U.S. futures sank early Monday, with the contract for the S&P 500 down 0.6% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.5%. Oil prices fell and the U.S. dollar weakened against the Japanese yen and the euro.

But share prices in Asia mostly advanced, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng gaining 2.4%.

Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed.

A U.S. flag files at the Port of Long Beach Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

A ship is docked at the Port of Long Beach Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan speaks during a public-private joint meeting to discuss response to U.S. tariff policies at the headquarters of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan, third from right, attends a public-private joint meeting to discuss response to U.S. tariff policies in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Ships are docked at the Port of Long Beach Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton distanced himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in closed-door depositions with lawmakers, according to videos that were released Monday by a House committee.

The recordings of the depositions, which spanned hours over two days last week, show how Bill Clinton told the committee that he had ended his relationship with Epstein years before the financier entered a 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Hillary Clinton told the committee she never even recalled meeting Epstein.

Both closed-door interviews before the House Oversight Committee were taken under oath Thursday and Friday.

The Clintons' testimony came as lawmakers are trying to meet demands for a reckoning over Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 in New York while facing charges for sex trafficking and abusing underage girls. High-status men around the world have been forced into resignations because of revelations about their relationships with Epstein, but so far there are few signs in the U.S. of serious legal consequences coming.

The former Democratic president said he first remembered meeting Epstein when he flew aboard the financier's private jet in 2002 for the Clintons' humanitarian work, and they parted ways the year after.

“There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women,” he told the committee.

Epstein visited the White House numerous times during Clinton’s presidency and there are photos of them shaking hands. Clinton told lawmakers he did not recall those interactions.

Bill Clinton faced searching questions both from Republicans and Democrats about photos of the former president that have been released as part of the case files on Epstein. In response to a Democratic lawmakers' questions about a photo that showed him in a pool with a woman whose face was redacted, the former president said he did not know the woman and did not engage in sexual activity with her.

He said the photo was from a trip to Brunei for charitable work and a number of people in their travel party were swimming. He also said that he was not aware that one young woman who was ostensibly working as a masseuse and gave him a neck massage on one flight was in fact a victim of sexual abuse.

Whether the subject was a note Clinton wrote for Epstein's 50th birthday or their travel together for the Clinton Foundation, he described their relationship as little more than “cordial.” Bill Clinton described an arrangement with Epstein where the financier provided his private jet for humanitarian trips in exchange for Clinton discussing politics and economics with him.

Larry Summers, who had worked as treasury secretary in Clinton's administration, helped make that connection, Clinton said. But Clinton said they went separate ways after he sensed that Epstein was not deeply interested in the humanitarian work.

“We were friendly, but I didn’t know him well enough to say we were friends,” he said.

He said he had once visited Epstein's townhouse in New York City, but said repeatedly he had never visited Epstein's private island or other properties.

Asked by Republicans whether they had talked about young women or girls together, Clinton responded emphatically: “No.”

Clinton acknowledged he maintained a closer relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and confidant. But he maintained that was largely because of close mutual connections. He also said “she has to be punished” for her conviction on sex trafficking charges.

One line of questioning stirred up curiosity from lawmakers, and that was what Clinton had to say about President Donald Trump. He made clear he believed it was important for anyone, including presidents, to come forward and testify to their knowledge of Epstein.

Clinton also shared how he and Trump had briefly discussed Epstein at a charity golf tournament more than 20 years ago. He said Trump had never “said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein,” but also remarked that those two men had a falling-out over a real estate deal.

Republican lawmakers left the deposition pointing to Clinton's words and arguing that it showed there is no evidence that Trump ever did anything wrong in his own relationship with Epstein.

Democrats, meanwhile, said Clinton's testimony counters what Trump has said more recently about why he and Epstein had a falling-out. Trump has told reporters they had a disagreement because Epstein had hired people away from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, after testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., speaks outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center where former President Bill Clinton was testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

FILE - President Clinton makes a statement as first lady Hillary Clinton looks on at the White House, Dec. 19, 1998 in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file)