President Donald Trump moved swiftly — and forcefully — after the Supreme Court struck down a key legal foundation for his tariff authority, announcing he will raise the existing 10% global tariff to 15% effective immediately.
The decision came just one day after the Court, in a 6–3 ruling, rejected the administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as justification for certain tariff actions. The ruling marked a significant check on executive authority in trade policy, narrowing the scope of emergency powers long debated in Washington.
Trump responded with characteristic bluntness.
In a Saturday morning post on Truth Social, the president called the ruling “ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American.” He then declared that he would raise the 10% worldwide tariff — which he says is authorized under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 — to 15%.
“Please let this statement serve to represent that I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff … to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level,” Trump wrote.
He added that his administration will spend the coming months determining additional “legally permissible Tariffs” to continue what he described as an “extraordinarily successful process of Making America Great Again.”
Tariffs have been central to Trump’s economic agenda during his second term. The president has argued that aggressive trade measures are necessary to reduce trade deficits, protect American manufacturing, and counter what he describes as decades of unfair trade practices by foreign nations. He has also framed the policy as part of a broader effort to stabilize the economy following the inflation surge and affordability challenges that marked the latter years of the Biden administration.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 07:04 PM EST 02.20.26
Those members of the Supreme Court who voted against our very acceptable and proper method of TARIFFS should be ashamed of themselves. Their decision was ridiculous but, now the adjustment process begins, and we will do…
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) February 21, 2026
While the Supreme Court blocked the use of IEEPA for imposing certain tariffs, it did not eliminate all executive authority over trade. Trump has cited Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 as the statutory basis for the 10% tariff — and now the increased 15% rate — though that provision carries its own procedural and temporal limitations.
The Court’s ruling is widely viewed as a landmark decision clarifying the boundaries of presidential power in trade matters. By rejecting the emergency justification under IEEPA, the majority signaled that broad economic policy cannot be shielded indefinitely under national emergency authorities without clear congressional backing.
Trump, however, made clear he sees the ruling not as a defeat, but as a pivot point.
“Those members of the Supreme Court who voted against our very acceptable and proper method of TARIFFS should be ashamed of themselves,” he wrote Friday evening, adding that his administration would work to “take in even more money than we were taking in before.”
One day after the Court spoke, Trump answered — not with retreat, but escalation.
