President Donald Trump increased the global import tariff for goods entering the United States to 15 percent yesterday, reaffirming his commitment to his aggressive trade policy despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that deemed parts of it unlawful. Trump, using his Truth Social platform, criticized the court’s decision as “extremely anti-American” and stated that the administration would raise the import duties to the maximum allowable and legally tested level of 15%. Initially, Trump had announced a 10 percent duty following the Supreme Court’s decision.
Furthermore, Trump mentioned that in the coming months, his administration would explore alternative methods to implement tariffs within legal boundaries. This recent development follows a series of changes in tariff rates set by Trump’s team over the past year for countries exporting goods to the United States.
The announcement appears to be an effort to bypass the Supreme Court’s ruling, which strongly criticized Trump’s broad and sometimes arbitrary tariff policies. It is important to note that the new duty is temporary, lasting for 150 days, with certain sectors exempted, such as pharmaceuticals and goods under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement.
Throughout the past year, Trump has utilized various tariff rates as a means to incentivize or penalize countries, regardless of their relationship with the US. Additionally, the White House mentioned that countries with separate tariff agreements with the US would also be subject to the new global tariff.
In a six to three ruling, the conservative-majority Supreme Court declared that a 1977 law on which Trump relied to impose sudden rates on countries did not grant the President the authority to implement tariffs. Trump, reacting strongly to the decision and suggesting foreign influence, criticized certain justices for lacking the courage to act in the country’s best interests.