Trump Raises Global Tariff to 15% After Supreme Court Voids IEEPA Levies
President Trump said the new baseline US tariff on imports will be 15%, not the 10% announced a day earlier, after the Supreme Court struck down his prior global tariffs. The move, using a rarely-invoked 1974 trade law, creates uncertainty for the UK, Australia, EU and other partners that had negotiated lower rates.
New tariff replaces struck-down levies
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will impose a global tariff of 15% on imports into the United States, raising the rate a day after he had announced a 10% levy to replace tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, according to the BBC, following a review of what he called the court's "ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs."
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump had overstepped his powers when he introduced sweeping global tariffs last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. The US has already collected at least $130bn under IEEPA, according to the most recent government data cited by the BBC. The new 15% rate is being applied under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a provision that has never previously been used and that allows tariffs to remain in place for around five months before requiring congressional approval.
The original 10% tariffs were set to take effect Tuesday, and it remains unclear whether the increased 15% rate will apply from the same date; the BBC reported it had contacted the White House for clarification. Certain products, including critical minerals, metals and pharmaceuticals, will be exempted from the new blanket tariff. Separate tariffs on steel, aluminium, lumber, and automotive parts and sectors, imposed under different legal authority, remain in place and were not affected by the court ruling.
Trading partners face a patchwork
The new rate raises questions for countries including the UK and Australia, which had negotiated 10% tariff deals with the US. A White House official said Friday that countries with existing trade deals would now face the Section 122 global tariff rather than their previously agreed rate, according to the BBC. However, UK agreements covering steel, aluminium, pharmaceuticals, autos and aerospace — which represent most of Britain's trade with the US — were not affected. The UK government said it expects the country's "privileged trading position with the US" to continue, calling it "a matter for the US to determine" whether the deals still stand.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said he feared the president's response to the court ruling "could be worse for British businesses." Bernd Lange, the German Social Democrat MEP who chairs the European Parliament's International Trade Committee, said he would call for a pause in ratifying the EU-US trade deal, which had been scheduled for a committee vote, citing fresh tariffs that raised "several issues" needing clarification.
Refund battle looms over collected tariffs
The Supreme Court ruling opened the door for businesses to seek refunds of tariffs collected under IEEPA, though the court did not rule on whether reimbursements must be issued. Trump indicated refunds would not come without a legal battle that could take years. Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the US Chamber of Commerce, said swift refunds would matter to more than 200,000 small business importers in the US, while the National Retail Federation urged courts to ensure a "seamless process" for refunding importers.
US Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asking how the administration plans to reimburse businesses for tariffs she said were "illegally collected." Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, argued that a Democratic push for refunds could instead benefit Republicans in the November midterm elections by boosting the economy.
Diverging reactions from US industry
Reaction inside the US was split. Drew Greenblatt, owner of Baltimore-based Marlin Steel Wire Products, said he was "very disappointed" by the Supreme Court's decision, calling it a setback for manufacturing jobs. John Boyd, a Virginia soybean farmer and founder of the National Black Farmers Association, called the ruling "a huge win" and a loss for the president. Allie Renison, a former UK government trade adviser now at SEC Newgate, said businesses now face "much more of a patchwork approach" to tariffs, adding that trade had become messier rather than freer.