The United States is expected to increase tariffs on global imports to 15 percent this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, as the Trump administration works to replicate some of the punishing duties struck down by the Supreme Court.
That rate is an increase from the 10 percent global tariffs that President Trump imposed last month after a court ruling struck down the administration’s emergency tariffs. In an interview on CNBC, Mr. Bessent said the United States would be using a legal authority that allowed the president to impose an across-the-board tariff for 150 days unless Congress agreed to extend it.
Mr. Bessent said that the office of the United States Trade Representative would conduct trade investigations to allow the Trump administration to replace the temporary tariffs with more permanent duties that would be less vulnerable to legal challenges.
The treasury secretary has said that he doesn’t expect the federal government’s projected tariff revenue for the year to change despite the court ruling.
“It’s my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months,” Mr. Bessent said.
Mr. Trump announced the 15 percent tariff rate last month after the Supreme Court ruling, but it has not yet taken effect. For some countries, such as Britain and Australia, that rate would be higher than what was agreed to on their exports to the United States. For others, like China, Vietnam, India and Brazil, the new rate would be significantly lower.
The Supreme Court restricted Mr. Trump’s ability to quickly wield tariffs for national security reasons, but the president has the power to impose full trade embargoes on goods from other countries.
Mr. Trump suggested on Tuesday that he might use that power to end trade with Spain, which angered him when it denied the United States the use of its military bases for America’s attack on Iran.
“We are going to cut off all trade with Spain,” Mr. Trump said at the White House. “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
The prospect of a 15 percent rate has upset Europeans, who would be subjected to an even higher import tax after the new tariff adds to preexisting levies on some products. The European Union agreed to a maximum 15 percent rate in their trade deal, and it sees such an arrangement as violating that.
Olof Gill, a spokesman for the E.U.’s executive arm, had no comment on the looming U.S. tariff increase. Speaking on Wednesday before Mr. Bessent previewed the higher rate, Mr. Gill said that the European Union was ready to respond if the Trump administration moved to halt trade with Spain.
“We stand in full solidarity with all member states and all its citizens and, through our common trade policy, stand ready to act if necessary to safeguard E.U. interests,” he said, after noting that the bloc and the Trump administration struck a trade deal last year, and that the bloc expected America to “fully honor” that agreement.
Jeanna Smialek contributed reporting from Brussels.
Alan Rappeport is an economic policy reporter for The Times, based in Washington. He covers the Treasury Department and writes about taxes, trade and fiscal matters.
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