Washington. The Supreme Court would have placed limits on the power of President Donald Trump, after declaring the tariffs illegal.
During the first year of President Trump’s administration, the Supreme Court would have aligned itself with the president, expanding his power and reshaping U.S. immigration, military service, federal employment and other policies, but now it has found its limit.
On Friday, February 21, the Supreme Court made a U-turn on one of Trump’s main priorities in his second term as president.
The court decided, in a landmark ruling, that the imposition of generalized global tariffs on nearly all of the United States’ trading partners exceeded its powers under federal law.
The ruling, drafted by the court’s conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, did not hesitate in its scope or effects, nor did it postpone questions about the legality of the tariffs.
It struck them down without hesitation, without mentioning the consequences for refunds, trade agreements, or the Republican president himself.
In response to the significant setback that the Supreme Court dealt to his aggressive trade policy, President Donald Trump announced that he would raise the United States’ global tariffs from 10% to 15% with immediate effect,
“As President of the United States of America, I will increase, with immediate effect, the global tariffs of 10% announced the day before, to the fully authorized level of 15%,” he wrote on his Truth Social network.
This increase is based on a “thorough review” of the ruling of the Supreme Court, he stated, once again denouncing that decision as “ridiculous” and “extraordinarily anti-American.”
Previously, from the Oval Office, he had announced the signing of an executive order imposing a new global tariff of 10%.
The new tariff was scheduled to take effect for a period of 150 days, with sectoral exemptions, notably for the pharmaceutical industry and for goods entering the United States under the agreement with Mexico and Canada, according to a White House statement.
This new rate applies to countries or blocs that have signed trade agreements with Washington, such as the European Union (EU), Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which, for example, agreed a maximum tariff of 15%.
