Washington: US President Donald Trump Saturday said that he was raising the proposed global tariff to 15 per cent, up from the 10 per cent he announced a day earlier.
Trump said in a social media post on that he was making the decision “Based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday,” by the US Supreme Court.
After the court ruled he didn’t have the emergency power to impost many sweeping tariffs, Trump signed an executive order on Friday night that enabled him to bypass Congress and impose a 10 per cent tax on imports from around the world. The catch is that those tariffs would be limited to just 150 days, unless they are extended legislatively.
Trump’s post significantly ratcheting up a global tax on imports to the US yet again was the latest sign that despite the court’s check, the Republican president was intent on continuing to wield in an unpredictable manner his favourite tool to for the economy and to apply global pressure. Trump’s shifting announcements over the last year that he was raising and sometimes lowering tariffs with little notice jolted markets and rattled nations.
Under the order Trump signed Friday night, the 10 per cent tariff was scheduled to take effect starting Feb 24. The White House did not immediately respond to a message inquiring when the president would sign an updated order.
In addition to the temporary tariffs that Trump wants to set at 15 per cent, the president said Friday that he was also pursuing tariffs through other sections of federal law which require an investigation by the Commerce Department.
AP
