Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would raise a temporary tariff rate on US imports from all countries from 10% to 15%, less than 24 hours after the US supreme court ruled against the legality of his flagship trade policy.
Infuriated by the high court’s ruling on Friday that he had exceeded his authority and should have got congressional approval for the tariffs he introduced last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the US president railed against the justices who struck down his use of tariffs – calling them a “disgrace to the nation” – and ordered an immediate 10% tariff on all imports, in addition to any existing levies, under a separate law.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday announcing the further increase, Trump wrote: “I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been ‘ripping’ the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level.”
The law according to section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 – which has never been used – allows the president to impose a levy of up to 15% for 150 days, although it could face legal challenges. After that, the administration has to seek congressional approval. During that 150-day period, his administration will work on issuing new and “legally permissible” tariffs, Trump said.
While Trump’s announcement claimed that the new tariffs would take effect “immediately”, it was unclear whether any official documents had been signed confirming the timing. A White House fact sheet issued on Friday regarding the original 10% tariffs said the levies would go into effect at 12.01am ET on Tuesday, 24 February.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Saturday that he would travel to Washington with a coordinated European position after the US supreme court’s blow to Trump’s tariff agenda, and warned of the “poison” of more uncertainty.
He said that he expected the burden on German companies to ease after the supreme court’s ruling but added: “I want to try to make it clear to the American government that tariffs harm everyone.”
“The biggest poison for the economies of Europe and the US is this constant uncertainty about tariffs. And this uncertainty must end,” Merz said.
French president Emmanuel Macron told journalists in Paris: “It is not bad to have a supreme court and, therefore, the rule of law. It is good to have power and counterweights to power in democracies.”
He said France would consider the consequences of Trump’s new global tariff and that the fairest rule was “reciprocity” and not to “be subjected to unilateral decisions”.
The new 15% tax rate also raises fresh questions for countries such as the UK, which had previously agreed to a 10% tariff with the US.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chamber of Commerce, said of the latest hike: “This will be bad for trade, bad for US consumers and businesses, and weaken global economic growth. Businesses on both sides of the Atlantic need a period of clarity and certainty. Higher tariffs are not the way to achieve that.”
Some products will be exempted from the temporary tariffs including critical minerals, metals and pharmaceuticals. Other exemptions include USMCA-compliant goods from Canada and Mexico.
Meanwhile, the supreme court’s ruling doesn’t affect separate, industry-specific tariffs that Trump slapped on steel, aluminum, lumber and autos under a different US law, which remain in place.
Trump has pursued his aggressive tariff policies in a bid to revitalize US manufacturing. The US has already collected at least $130bn in tariffs using the IEEPA, according to the most recent government data.
However, studies show that the vast majority of that sum – 90% – has been paid by US businesses and consumers. Top associations of US businesses have already begun clamoring for refunds from the federal government, but Trump indicated on Friday that reimbursements would not come without a lengthy legal battle.
Also on Saturday, Trump continued to lambast the supreme court’s 6-3 ruling as “ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American” in his Truth Social post, following unusually personal attacks directed at justices the day before.
At the White House on Friday, Trump told reporters: “I’m ashamed of certain members of the court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.”
He praised the three justices who dissented in the opinion: Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote the main dissent, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. He was scathing in his remarks about the others – including two of his appointees, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch.
“They’re just being fools and lapdogs for the Rinos [“Republicans in name only”] and the radical-left Democrats, and not that they should have anything at all to do with it,” Trump said. “They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our constitution.”
He called Barrett and Gorsuch “an embarrassment to their families” and said they were “barely” invited to the State of the Union address next week.
