WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would raise temporary tariffs on nearly all U.S. products. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that its previous tariff plan was invalid, imports were reduced from 10% to 15%, the highest level allowed by law.
Trump announced sweeping 10% tariffs on Friday immediately after the court ruled that the president exceeded his authority by imposing a series of higher rates under the Economic Emergency Act.
The new levies are based on a separate law, Section 122, which allows tariffs of up to 15% but requires congressional approval to extend them after 150 days.
Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that he would use the time to work on imposing other “legally permitted” tariffs. The government intends to rely on two other pieces of legislation that would allow import duties to be imposed 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, effective immediately, increase the 10% global tariffs to the fully permissible and legally tested level of 15% against countries, many of whom have been ‘blackmailing’ the United States for decades without retaliation (until I showed up!),” he wrote in the Truth Society post.
In the hours since the court’s 6-3 ruling, Trump has shown few signs of backing down from the global trade war, attacking individual judges personally and insisting he retains the power to impose tariffs as he sees fit.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Rod Nickel)
