Trump says he will increase global tariffs to 15% from 10%
The move comes as the US president seeks to preserve his trade agenda
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[WASHINGTON, DC] US President Donald Trump said he will increase the global 10 per cent tariff he announced on Friday (Feb 20) to 15 per cent, in reaction to the US Supreme Court’s ruling that his mechanism for applying tariffs was illegal.
“I, as president of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10 per cent 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 per cent level,” Trump said in a social media post on Saturday.
Hours after the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, Trump imposed a 10 per cent global tariff on foreign goods, moving to preserve his trade agenda.
He is applying the new baseline tariff under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows the president to impose tariffs for 150 days without congressional approval. Securing that approval could prove challenging, as Democrats and some Republicans have opposed elements of his trade policy.
The initial tariffs announced on Friday were scheduled to go into effect on Feb 24 at 12.01 am Washington time, according to a White House fact sheet.
Trump is scheduled to deliver the State of the Union address to Congress that evening in Washington. His post on Saturday did not go into details on the timing for the increased tariffs.
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The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday that Trump had acted unlawfully in using a longstanding federal emergency powers statute to justify his “reciprocal” tariffs. In April 2025, he relied on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to levy duties ranging from 10 to 50 per cent on dozens of US trading partners.
The White House and US Trade Representative’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. BLOOMBERG
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