After his defeat before the US Supreme Court on the tariff issue, US President Donald quickly increased his planned new “global tariff” from 10 to 15 percent. This measure is “fully permitted” and “legally tested,” Trump wrote on his network Truth Social in the late afternoon German time.

Trump signed an order on Friday evening to impose an additional global tariff of 10 percent on imports to the USA. The tariffs should apply from next Tuesday (00:01 local time/06:01 CET), as the White House announced.

The White House named numerous exceptions: the tariff should not apply to medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients as well as cars and heavy trucks. Different customs agreements apply to certain categories of goods depending on the country. Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform that he had signed a “global 10 percent tariff for all countries.” On Saturday he announced that he wanted to increase the tariff.

Bitter defeat in court

On Friday, Trump suffered a bitter defeat in the US Supreme Court with his aggressive tariff policy. According to the Supreme Court, the Republican exceeded his authority when he used an emergency law to impose far-reaching tariffs on dozens of trading partners – including the European Union.

A little later, Trump made it clear that he wanted to use alternative ways to stick to his customs strategy. According to the White House, Trump is relying on a 1974 trade law for the additional global tariff. This allows tariffs to be levied on imports for up to 150 days.

However, for a longer period of time, Trump would need the approval of the US Parliament. Experts also doubt whether the necessary requirements for using this legal basis for temporary tariffs have even been met.