Donald Trump to raise global tariffs from 10 to 15 per cent after supreme court loss

President Donald Trump says he will raise temporary tariffs on almost all US imports from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, the maximum level allowed under the law, after the US Supreme Court struck down his previous tariff program.

Trump had immediately announced a 10 per cent across-the-board tariff on Friday after the court’s decision, which found the president had exceeded his authority when he imposed an array of higher rates under an economic emergency law.

The new levies are grounded in a separate law, known as Section 122, that allows tariffs up to 15 per cent but requires congressional approval to extend them after 150 days.

No president has previously invoked Section 122, and its use could lead to further legal challenges.

Trade experts and congressional aides are sceptical that the Republican-majority Congress would extend the tariffs, given polls that show growing numbers of Americans blame the duties for higher prices.

In a social media post on Saturday, Trump said he would use that period to work on issuing other “legally permissible” tariffs.

The administration intends to rely on two other statutes that permit import taxes on specific products or countries based on investigations into national security or unfair trade practices.

“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,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.

Trump reacted with fury to the ruling, calling the justices in the majority “fools” and describing Gorsuch and Barrett in particular as “embarrassments,” while vowing to continue his global trade war.

Some foreign leaders applauded the decision.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that the ruling showed it is good for democracies to have counterweights to power and the rule of law.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he expected the decision would ease the burden on German companies.

He said he would use his upcoming US trip to reiterate that “tariffs harm everyone”.

Trump has used the tariffs, or the threat of imposing them, to extract trade deals from foreign countries.

After the court’s decision, Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, told Fox News on Friday that those countries must honour agreements even if they call for higher rates than the Section 122 tariffs.

Exports to the US from countries such as Malaysia and Cambodia would continue to be taxed at their negotiated rates of 19 per cent, even though the universal rate is lower, Greer said.

The ruling could spell good news for countries like Brazil, which has not negotiated a deal with Washington to lower its 40 per cent tariff rate but could now see its tariff rate drop to 15 per cent, at least temporarily.

Trump’s approval rating on his handling of the economy has steadily declined during his year in office, with 34 per cent of respondents saying they approve and 57 per cent saying they disapprove in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday.