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Trump's new tariffs take effect at a lower price than expected

2026-02-24 11:00:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

US President Donald Trump's new global tariffs have taken effect at 10%, despite a promise to impose them at a higher rate. After the Supreme Court blocked many of his sweeping import taxes on Friday, the president said he would impose a global rate of 10%. He then said on Saturday that the rate would be 15%.

However, according to official documents, the tariffs have been set at a lower rate since Tuesday, with no directive to increase the rate.

"I think this just adds to the chaos and the mess. In terms of uncertainty, we're back to where we were last year. The risk of a real full-blown tariff war - trade war - escalation is clearly higher than last year," said Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at investment bank ING, referring to rapidly changing tariffs and their effects on businesses.

An executive order signed by Trump on Friday said the temporary 10% import tax was intended to “address fundamental international payments problems and continue the Administration’s work to rebalance our trading relationship to the benefit of American workers, farmers and manufacturers.” The administration is implementing the tax under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows the president to impose the tariff for 150 days without congressional approval. The president has argued that the tariffs are necessary to reduce America’s trade deficit — the amount by which imports exceed exports. But the deficit hit a new record high last week, widening 2.1% from 2024 to nearly $1.2 trillion (£890 billion).

The US has already collected at least $130 billion in tariffs using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977, according to the most recent official data. Trump has been highly critical of the Supreme Court's decision, calling it ridiculous, poorly written and extremely un-American.

In a 6-3 decision, judges on the highest US court found that the president had exceeded his powers when he introduced sweeping global tariffs last year using IEEPA./CNA, translated by BBC