NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump on Saturday raised newly imposed global tariffs to 15%, exceeding the legal limit under a legal provision he invoked a day earlier and hinted that higher tariffs were imminent.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would raise the 10% global tariffs imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 “effective immediately” to the “fully permissible and legally tested level of 15%.” He called Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down his original tariff regime “ridiculous, poorly written and deeply anti-American.”
Less than 24 hours before this, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners was illegal.
Trump responded to the ruling by invoking Section 122, imposing global tariffs of 10%, but quickly pushed the tariffs to the legal maximum.
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Trump said in his Truth Society post that his administration will “identify and enact new, legally permissible tariffs with guidance from other authorities over the next few short months” – suggesting the 15% rate is a transitional measure rather than a final state. At Friday’s press conference, he had pointed to Section 232, Section 301 and the Tariff Act of 1930 as tools for reimposing tariffs, citing Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s dissent that the ruling “may not materially limit the president’s ability to order future tariffs.”
However, Section 122 provides for a hard statutory period of 150 days, after which parliamentary approval is required to continue. Trump officially started the clock early on Saturday (India time) when he issued an executive order invoking the section.
Trump has again sharply increased global tariffs on U.S. imports, the latest sign that despite court scrutiny the Republican president intends to continue using his favorite tools in unpredictable ways to boost the economy and apply global pressure.
Wendy Cutler, a former top U.S. trade official and senior vice president at the Asia Society think tank, said she was surprised Trump did not pursue the top 122 tax rate on Friday, but his swift change highlighted the uncertainty facing trading partners.
Trump, who often describes tariffs as his favorite word, has taken personal shots at individual judges and insisted he retains the power to impose tariffs as he sees fit.
Trump has launched unusually personal attacks on Supreme Court justices who have ruled against him in 6-3 votes, including two appointees of his first term, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
“I think it’s embarrassing to their families,” Trump said of the two justices at a news conference on Friday. He remained emotional Friday night, posting on social media to complain about Gorsuch, Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, who ruled and wrote the majority opinion.
On Saturday morning, Trump posted another post declaring that his “new hero” is Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote a 63-page dissent. He also praised minority justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, saying of the three dissenting justices: “There’s no question that anyone wants to make America great again.”
