World News

New Trump tariffs take effect days after Supreme Court decision 

24 February 2026
This content originally appeared on Al Jazeera.
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New tariffs on imported goods announced by United States President Donald Trump have come into effect, days after the country’s Supreme Court struck down most of his previous tariff regime.

‌Washington imposed an additional tariff from Tuesday of 10 percent on ⁠all goods not ⁠covered by exemptions, a notice issued by US Customs and Border Protection said.

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Trump has doubled down on imposing tariffs on trading partners since the top court on Friday struck down many of his sweeping and often arbitrary duties, in a rebuke of his signature economic policy.

Reacting to the court’s ruling, the US president initially announced a new ⁠temporary global tariff ⁠of 10 percent. He later said on Saturday he would increase that level ⁠to 15 percent.

The move added to confusion surrounding US trade policy, with no explanation offered for why the lower rate had been used.

Collection of the new tariffs began at midnight on Tuesday, while the collection of the ⁠tariffs annulled by the Supreme Court was halted. They had ⁠ranged from 10 percent to as much as 50 percent.

The conservative-majority court ruled six to three that Trump had exceeded his authority in using a 1977 law to impose sudden tariffs on individual countries.

But Trump says the tariffs are justified as a means “to deal with the large and serious United States balance-of-payments deficits”, according to a White House press release.

The new duty, taking effect Tuesday, only lasts for 150 days unless extended by Congress and is widely seen as a bridge towards a more durable trade policy.

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Trump’s tariff order argued that a serious balance of payments deficit existed in the form ⁠of a $1.2 trillion annual US goods trade deficit, ⁠a current account deficit of 4 percent of gross domestic product and a reversal of the US primary income surplus.

On Monday, Trump warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the US, saying that if they ‌did, he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws.

Meanwhile, Beijing ⁠has urged the US to ⁠abandon its “unilateral tariffs”, indicating ⁠also that it is willing to hold another round ‌of trade talks with the world’s largest economy, China’s Ministry of Commerce ⁠said in a statement on Tuesday.

China will decide at ⁠the right time ⁠on adjusting ⁠countermeasures to the latest US tariff ‌adjustments, the ministry added.

Japan also said it had asked Washington to ensure its treatment under a new tariff regime would be ⁠as favourable as in an existing agreement, treading carefully to avoid rocking the boat before the Japanese prime minister’s US visit next month.

While the latest measures could increase the tariff cost for some Japanese export items, Japan’s trade minister and US Commerce Secretary ⁠Howard Lutnick affirmed on a call on Monday that the two countries would implement the trade deal struck last year “in good faith and without delay”, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.