Washington: US President Donald Trump says he will raise his new global tariff to 15 per cent, just a day after ordering a 10 per cent worldwide tariff, following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down his previous system of “reciprocal” import duties.
Trump announced on social media on Saturday (Washington time) that “based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday”, he would lift the new tariffs to 15 per cent, effective immediately.
The new tariff is due to begin on Tuesday (Washington time). It replaces the old system under which imports from Australia had a 10 per cent tariff – effectively the lowest of any country.
Trump’s post on Truth Social did not indicate any exemptions for countries with which the US enjoys a trade surplus, such as Australia. He said the 15 per cent rate would apply to countries worldwide, “many of which have been ‘ripping’ the US off for decades, without retribution”.
He added: “During the next short number of months, the Trump Administration will determine and issue the new and legally permissible Tariffs, which will continue our extraordinarily successful process of Making America Great Again – GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The White House was contacted for further information.
The move comes less than 24 hours after Trump raged at the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down his previous system of so-called reciprocal tariffs applied to various countries using presidential emergency powers.
Trump exceeded his authority as president by doing so, the majority ruled in a 6-3 verdict, as “Congress alone” has the power to raise revenue by imposing permanent tariffs.
The new tariffs use a different mechanism – Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 – which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 15 per cent for 150 days to address urgent balance-of-payments concerns.
Recent Commerce Department data showed the US ran a trade deficit of about $US900 billion last year.
More to come
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.