President Trump said on Saturday that he would hike global tariffs to 15%, one day after the Supreme Court ruled a bulk of import taxes were illegal.
Why it matters: The administration moved swiftly to replace the tariffs scrapped by the nation's highest court. Now Trump is upping the ante by raising the tariffs to the highest limit allowed under a separate trade law.
What they're saying: In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that he would be raising the 10% global tariff to the "fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level."
The big picture: In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court said on Friday that Trump could not implement tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
- Hours later, the administration said it would reinstate 10% tariffs on all foreign goods under a provision of a separate trade law, Section 122. Those tariffs were set to take effect next week.
- The trade provision says that a president can apply tariffs of up to 15% to address "large and serious" balance of payments issues for up to 150 days. After that, Congress would need to act to allow the tariffs to continue.
The bottom line: Trump acted fast to reimpose the tariffs the Supreme Court smacked down. Now he's moving to make them as harsh as the law allows — and more are likely to follow.
- "During the next short number of months, the Trump Administration will determine and issue the new and legally permissible Tariffs," Trump posted on Truth Social.
Go deeper: Trump signals new tariffs plan. Here's how Section 122 works
