President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will raise a temporary tariff from 10 percent to 15 percent on US imports from all countries, the maximum level allowed under the law, after the US Supreme Court struck down his previous tariff programme.
Trump had immediately announced a 10 percent 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 but untested law, known as Section 122, that allows tariffs up to 15 percent 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 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 the 150-day 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 percent Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been ‘ripping’ the US off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15 percent level,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
The Section 122 tariffs include exemptions for certain products, including critical minerals, metals and energy products, according to the White House.
Wendy Cutler, a former senior US trade official and senior vice president at the Asia Society think tank, said she was surprised Trump had not gone for the maximum Section 122 rate on Friday, but that his rapid-fire change underscored the uncertainty trading partners faced.
Trump, who often describes tariffs as his favourite word, has attacked individual justices in personal terms and insisted he retained the power to impose tariffs as he sees fit.