Defiant, the president donald trump imposed this Friday a new general tariff of 10% after a ruling by the United States Supreme Court which judged that it does not have the right to impose customs tariffs as if they were a national emergency.
The Republican signed the order in Oval Office and said on his social networks that the measure “will come into effect almost immediately.” The decree will come into force on February 24for a period of 150 days, according to a statement from the White House.
The business partners of the United States that reached tariff agreements with the administration of trump They will now face the 10% tax, even though they had previously agreed on a higher percentage, said the White House on Friday at AFP.
Supreme Court ruling and Trump’s response
“However, this is only temporary, as the administration will appeal to others legal powers to apply duty more appropriate or previously negotiated,” said a government source.
Sentence of the Supreme Court
The high court, with a conservative majority, earlier ruled that a law of 1977 in which trump had been supported to suddenly establish rates on individual countries, disrupting world trade, “does not authorize the president to impose duty“.
- The president declared “deeply disappointed” for the sentence, and directly accused some judges of the Court of being subject to “foreign interests“.
trumpwhich has based much of its foreign policy in a series of variable tariffs at will, he acknowledged, however, that it is not clear whether he will have to refund the money raised so far.
A study of the University of Pennsylvania encrypted that the figure at stake could represent up to 175 billion dollars.
That aspect “was not addressed by the Court,” he regretted. trump before journalists, and now litigation before the courts could last “years“.
The judge Brett Kavanaughthat dissented of the majority opinion (6 against 3) of the Court, warned that this legal process could be a “mess.”
trump He did not recognize any error or haste in using the weapon of the duty.
The error has been six magistrates who voted against, for reasons “politically correct“he asserted.
Economic implications and international reactions
The Supreme Court acted “outlaw“said the vice president. J.D. Vance on the social network x.
Economic implications
The United States currently applies a average tariff rate of the 16.8%. The Supreme Court decided that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 “does not authorize the president to impose duty“.
“If he Congress would have been intended to grant the distinct and extraordinary power to impose duty“through the IEEPA“I would have done it in a way express“added the majority.
trump used the IEEPA to enact special customs rates to important partners such as Mexico, Canada and China with disparate reasons, such as drug trafficking and immigration.
Despite the setback, the Supreme Court left power to trump to continue taxing specific sectors such as automotive, steel or aluminum.
The reactions Some of his supporters were cautious, those of the opposition were very critical.
“The president clearly did not read the opinion of the majority of the Court: only the Congress has power over duty“declared the Republican senator Don Bacon.
“The failures economic policies of donald trump and the global trade war waged with duty irresponsible (…) have generated an enormous uncertainty“declared the head of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries.
Mexico announced that he was going to study the sentence, and the same declared European Union.
“Canada must prepare for new, more forceful mechanisms (…) potentially with broader and more disturbing effects,” said the president of the Chamber of Commerce from that country, Candace Laingin a statement.
He United Kingdomwhich had signed a free trade agreement with the United States, said it hoped to maintain that “privileged trade position.”
trump also used the duty to negotiate with other key countries, such as Japan, India either South Korea. These agreements remain in force, assured the president.
The NYSEwhich had opened in the red, closed higher: 0.47% he Dow Jones, 0.90% he Nasdaq.
In addition to the sentence, the United States woke up this Friday with a poor economic result: the growth in 2025 was from 2.2%regarding the 2.8% from the previous year.
After a year of insisting that the duty were a panacea for the United States, the official figures of the trade deficit in 2025 showed that it increased slightly, until 1.24 trillion dollars.
