Trump announces hike in global tariff rate from 10% to 15%

United States President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he is raising the tariffs on goods entering United States from 10% to 15% 'effective immediately'.

Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote, "I, as President of the United States of ⁠America, ⁠will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been 'ripping' the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), ​to the fully allowed, and legally ​tested, 15% level."

The move comes on the heels of US Supreme Court ruling against his tariff programme based on ​an economic ⁠emergency law.

Trump on Friday ordered an immediate 10% tariff ⁠on ‌all imports, in addition to any existing tariffs. The law ‌allows him to impose a ⁠levy of up to 15% for 150 days, although ‌that too could face legal ‌challenges.

During that period, his administration ‌will work on ‌issuing new and "legally permissible" tariffs, he said.

The US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 verdict written by Chief Justice John Roberts, on Friday ruled that the tariffs imposed by Trump on nations around the world were illegal and that the President had exceeded his authority when he imposed the sweeping levies.

In a 6-3 vote on Friday, the judges found that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorise the imposition of duties. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Kavanaugh dissented in the court's decision. Justice Brett Kavanaugh US Supreme Court referred to the tariffs imposed on India for Russian oil purchases in his dissenting opinion.

India now faces a lower tariff rate of 10 per cent, down from 18 per cent.

Earlier this month, as the US and India announced they reached a framework for an Interim Agreement on trade, Trump issued an Executive Order removing the 25 per cent punitive tariffs imposed on India for its purchases of Russian oil.

(Agency inputs)