Trump signed the measure to impose global tariffs of 10%, after a few hours earlier the Supreme Court rejected the tariffs introduced last summer, declaring the use of emergency powers illegitimate. “It is a great honor for me to have just signed, from the Oval Office, a global tariff of 10% on all countries, which will go into effect almost immediately,” Trump wrote on his Truth social network.
The new trade measure, the White House says, will come into force starting Tuesday 24 January. US trading partners that reached tariff agreements with the Trump administration will also now have to pay a 10% tariff. The EU said it was waiting for the US administration to clarify what measures it intends to take in response to this ruling.
The new measure will last a maximum of 150 days, was adopted using the Section of the Trade Act of 1974, a never before implemented trade law, which allows the president to impose tariffs temporarily to address “large and serious deficits in the balance of payments of the United States” or other situations presenting “fundamental problems in international payments”.
To impose tariffs, Trump had so far resorted to a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act which gives the president broad powers over international economic transactions in the event of a national emergency. The influx of drugs into the United States and the “large and persistent” trade deficit were both used by the US president to justify the use of emergency measures. However, in a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that that law does not authorize Trump to impose the tariffs.
The Supreme Court’s ruling struck one of the pillars of the White House’s economic agenda. The ruling calls into question the legality of the customs tariffs announced on the occasion of ‘Liberation Day’, as well as the duties imposed on imports from China, Mexico and Canada. A decision that Trump called “a disgrace”.