Washington - US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Socialnetwork that he has signed a 10% global tariff "effective almostimmediately," following his defeat at the Supreme Court.
"It is my Great Honor to have just signed, from the Oval Office, aGlobal 10% Tariff on all Countries, which will be effective almostimmediately," Trump said in a brief post.
Hours earlier, Trump had forewarned of the move, saying that the new10% tariff would be "over and above our normal tariffs already beingcharged."
Trump said the levy would be introduced under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which grants the president authority to impose temporary trade measures to address balance-of-payments problems.
The announcement came after the Supreme Court dealt a major setback to Trump's tariff agenda, striking down the broad, country-specific duties he unveiled last April.
Trump said his administration was also initiating several new country-specific investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, "to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies.
"The executive order directed the U.S. Trade Representative's office to investigate 'certain unreasonable and discriminatory acts, policies and practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce," but did not identify any specific targets.USTR already has open probes on China and Brazil, and could aim for other big trading partners, including Vietnam and Canada.
FASTER INVESTIGATIONS
Trump's shift to other statutes, including Section 122, while initiating new investigations under Section 301, had been widely anticipated, but these have often taken a year to complete.The 10% tariffs only last five months, but Trump said that would allow his administration to complete investigations to enhance tariffs. Asked if rates would ultimately end up being higher after more probes, Trump said: "Potentially higher. It depends. Whatever we want them to be."He said some countries "that have treated us really badly for years" could see higher tariffs, whereas for others, "it's going to be very reasonable for them."The fate of dozens of trade deals to cut IEEPA-based duties and negotiations with major U.S. trading partners remained unclear in the wake of the ruling, though Trump said he expected many of them to continue. He said deals that are abandoned "will be replaced with the other tariffs.""This is unlikely to affect reciprocal trade negotiations with our trading partners," said Tim Brightbill, trade partner with the law firm Wiley Rein in Washington. "Most countries would prefer the certainty of a trade deal to the chaos of last year."U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said details on new Section 301 investigations would be revealed in the coming days, adding these are "incredibly legally durable." Trump relied on Section 301 to impose broad tariffs on Chinese imports during his first term.
REFUNDS TO BE 'LITIGATED'
The Supreme Court's ruling puts about $175 billion in tariff revenue collected over the past year subject to potential refunds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists. Asked if he would refund the IEEPA duties, Trump said the matter would likely be litigated for two to five years, suggesting that a quick, automatic refund process was unlikely.
Speaking in Dallas, Bessent told business leaders that since the Supreme Court did not provide any instructions on refunds, those were "in dispute," adding: "My sense is that could be dragged out for weeks, months, years.
MORE PROCEDURES
Part of the reason why Trump opted for IEEPA to impose tariffs last year was that the 1977 sanctions statute allowed fast and broad action with almost no constraints. Until Friday, he had also used it as a cudgel to swiftly punish countries over non-trade disputes, such as Brazil's prosecution of former president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro.
While Trump's new investigations will prolong tariff uncertainty, they could inject more order into his tariff policy by forcing him to rely on trade laws that have well-understood procedures, research, and public comment requirements, and longer timelines, said Janet Whittaker, senior counsel with Clifford Chance in Washington."The administration will need to follow these set processes, conduct the investigations, and so for businesses, that means more visibility into the process," Whittaker said.
Robert Lighthizer, Trump's trade chief during his first term, said on Fox News that he hoped Congress would revise decades-old trade laws to give Trump new tariff tools."I think there's consensus in this Congress that we have to change the old system, and I hope that they will take this as an opportunity to do that," Lighthizer said.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
