Fresh U.S. tariffs on imported goods took effect Tuesday as President Donald Trump sought to revive his trade agenda following a Supreme Court decision that blocked many of his global duties.
The new tariffs, initially set at 10 percent, are justified as a measure to address the U.S.’s large and serious balance-of-payments deficits, according to a White House statement released Friday.
Trump has pledged to increase the tariff rate to 15 percent, with certain exemptions remaining for goods covered by sector-specific investigations and the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
After the Supreme Court’s rebuke of his broad and often unpredictable tariff policies, Trump has doubled down on targeting trading partners with new duties. Sector-specific tariffs on products such as steel and autos remain in place, but the ruling paves the way for complicated refund claims on other goods.
The new tariff, which begins Tuesday, will be in effect for 150 days unless Congress extends it. Many observers see it as a temporary step toward a longer-term trade strategy.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced it would stop collecting tariffs invalidated by the court starting Tuesday, while also beginning to collect the new 10 percent tariffs the same day.
The Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority, ruled 6-3 that Trump exceeded his authority under a 1977 law by imposing abrupt tariffs on individual countries.
The new tariff will apply to $1.2 trillion in annual imports—about 34 percent of all goods brought into the U.S.—according to Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation. The Trump tariffs amounted to an average tax increase per U.S. household of $1,000 in 2025, York said.
With Trump’s global tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act now ruled illegal, his remaining and new duties are still projected to “result in a household burden of $700 in 2026, she added.
— ‘Wings clipped’ —
Trump claimed Monday that the Supreme Court ruling actually gave him far more powers and strength, saying he could use licenses to do absolutely terrible things to foreign countries.
With his tariff wings clipped, Trump needs a new tool to express displeasure on actions by others, said Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official and senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Threatening steep licensing fees is an alternative, but it lacks the flair and quantitative nature of tariffs.
On Monday, Trump also warned he might raise tariffs on countries that play games following the court decision—a message to nations that had made trade deals with the U.S. under threat of tariffs.
Throughout the past year, Trump has imposed a range of tariff rates on partners—sometimes changing them abruptly—to pressure both allies and rivals during trade negotiations.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CBS on Sunday that tariff agreements remain in place despite the ruling: “We expect our partners to stand by them.
However, the proposed 15 percent tariff for some countries, such as Britain and Australia, would be higher than the previous 10 percent rate.
Cutler cautioned that Trump’s approach could further disappoint U.S. trading partners. While retaliation is unlikely, she said, they may accelerate efforts to diversify away from the U.S.
— AFP
