President Donald Trump escalated his push to raise tariffs without the Supreme Court’s backing, announcing he would raise the 10% worldwide tariff he announced after the nation’s highest court ruled against him to 15%.
Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, allowing him to impose a maximum tariff of 15%. It can only remain in effect for 150 days, after which it would need authorization from Congress.
“Based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday, after MANY months of contemplation, by the United States Supreme Court,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, the worldwide tariff would be raised to 15%, “effective immediately.”
The move came after Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court on Feb. 20 over what he called its “deeply disappointing” decision to overturn the emergency tariffs that he imposed on countries around the world. The high court ruled Trump doesn’t have the congressional authority to impose tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
At a news conference after the ruling, Trump said he was “ashamed” of some Supreme Court justices for “not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.”
“I think their decision was terrible,” he added. “I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, if you want to know the truth.”
The court struck down the tariffs with a 6-3 majority, including two justices Trump appointed — Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. It marked the first time in Trump’s second term that the conservative-dominated court has ruled against his sweeping use of presidential power.
The case came to the Supreme Court after a group of small businesses, joined by more than a dozen states with Democratic attorneys general, sued the Trump administration over the tariffs, accusing the president of inappropriately stretching his power to “regulate” to unlawfully impose taxes.
“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion, but had failed to “identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.”
Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
