In just hours, Trump raises the global tariff from 10 to 15%

Washington. Donald Trump announced yesterday that he will increase the United States’ global tariffs from 10 percent, announced by himself a day earlier, to 15 percent with immediate effect, in response to the major setback that the Supreme Court dealt on Friday to his aggressive trade policy.

“I, as President of the United States of America, will be raising, effective immediately, the 10 percent global tariff on countries, many of which have been ‘ripping off’ the United States for decades, without retaliation (until I came along!), to the fully permitted and legally proven level of 15 percent,” he wrote on the Truth Social network.

This increase is based, he maintained, on an “exhaustive review” of the ruling of the highest US court. He once again denounced that legal decision as “ridiculous” and “anti-American.”

On Friday he announced from the Oval Office the signing of an executive order imposing a new general tariff of 10 percent. The new levies are based on a separate law, known as Section 122, which allows taxes of up to 15 percent, but requires congressional approval to extend them after 150 days.

Trump wrote yesterday on social media that he would use that period (150 days) to work on issuing other “legally permissible” tariffs. The administration intends to rely on two other laws that allow taxing of imports of certain products or goods from specific countries, based on investigations into national security or unfair trade practices.

The new tariff was scheduled to take effect on February 24, with sectoral exemptions, particularly for the pharmaceutical industry and for goods entering the United States under the agreement with Mexico and Canada, the White House said in a statement late Friday.

The new 15 percent rate applies to countries or blocs that have signed reciprocal tax trade agreements, such as the European Union (EU), Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which, for example, agreed to a capped tariff of 15 percent.

The United States’ main trading partners received the Supreme Court’s decision with interest, but with caution. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the ruling and said it was “good to have checks and balances in democracies.

“We want to continue exporting (…) and do so under the fairest possible rules (…) and not be subject to unilateral decisions,” Macron declared on Saturday, adding that a calm approach is necessary.

According to the court ruling, issued by a majority of six of the nine ministers, Trump cannot justify these tariffs by claiming an economic emergency. This strong opinion is all the more notable given that the Supreme Court is primarily composed of conservative justices and has repeatedly aligned itself with the Republican Party.

Trump imposed these tariffs based on a 1977 law that authorizes the Executive Branch to act in the economic sphere without prior approval from Congress when an “economic emergency” is identified. However, according to Chief Justice John Roberts, the head of state must “demonstrate clear congressional authorization” to implement the tariffs.

The high court’s ruling paves the way for possible tariff refunds to companies. On Friday, Trump emphasized that this issue “was not addressed” by the Court and predicted that, if it is the case, it will occupy the courts for years.

Tariffs collected by US authorities and affected by the Supreme Court decision exceeded $140 billion in 2025, according to analysts.

One of the dissenting ministers, Brett Kavanaugh, justified his position by stating that the decision “says nothing about how the government should proceed to repay the billions collected.”

Announced in April, the tariffs affected countries with which the United States had a trade deficit, and the US president considered them a balancing tool and source of resources to offset tax cuts.