The United States Customs and Border Protection has rolled out the 10 per cent tariff duties imposed on all imports which are not covered by exemptions.
However, this rate is lower than the 15 per cent duties promised earlier by US President Donald Trump.
After the US Supreme Court’s ruling deemed earlier tariffs imposed by Trump using emergency powers as “illegal”, the President had announced 10 per cent additional tariffs on imports from all countries on Friday. The next day, Trump decided to increase this to 15 per cent.
A US Customs notice, which is described as intended to “provide guidance regarding the February 20, 2026 Presidential Proclamation”, said imports would be subject to “an additional ad valorem rate of 10%”, Reuters reported.
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A White House official, quoted by The Financial Times, has said the increase to 15 per cent will come later. This has, however, not been officially confirmed. The collection of the new tariffs began at midnight, while the earlier tariffs were annulled.
Supreme Court ruling and Trump’s new tariffs
The US Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority, ruled six to three that Trump had exceeded his authority in using a 1977 law to impose sudden tariffs on individual countries. This led to the halting of earlier tariffs imposed on countries, which ranged from 10 to 50 per cent.
Following this, Trump imposed additional 10% tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the US President to impose new duties for up to 150 days on any and all countries to address “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits and “fundamental international payments problems,” according to Reuters. This period can only be extended by a vote of the US Congress.
Trump had, on Monday, criticised the US Supreme Court, claiming that they gave him “far more powers and strength” with the ruling. He said he can “use licenses to do absolutely ‘terrible’ things to foreign countries.”