After Supreme Court setback, Trump imposes 15% blanket tariff under Section 122, escalating trade fight and legal uncertainty for corporations.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, according to the Supreme Court of the United States’ February landmark decision. But that didn’t stop him from responding with a new trade salvo 24-hours later: a 15%—previously a 10%—blanket tariff on all US imports.
At first, more than 60% of the 2025 tariffs seemingly vanished and more than $200 billion in expected annual tariff collections were essentially removed.
But a seething Trump insisted on his conservative social network, Truth Social, that the new 15% tariff, which will remain in place for 150 days, is “fully allowed” and “legally tested” under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
He is the first president to take any action under Section 122, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Whether that deters corporates from suing the US government to recover hundreds of billions in already paid levies remains to be seen. Since last April, hundreds of companies have filed lawsuits over the Trump tariffs, including Costco, Prada, Staples, and Bumble Bee Foods, as well as BYD, Kawasaki Motors, and Yokohama Tire.
Companies “know that the litigation process to get their money back may take months, even years,” Olu Sonola, head of US economics at Fitch Ratings, tells Global Finance. Any relief, he adds, may prove to be premature if Trump’s tariff double-down ends up being a blanket, without exceptions for consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, and many more sectors that were exempted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which the president had invoked as legal authority for his duties.
Still, the Supreme Court’s decision was dramatic. Gorsuch, for example, took his fellow justices to task by emphasizing statutory limits and the “major questions doctrine,” arguing Congress must clearly authorize policies of vast economic significance.
Despite Trump’s 15% decree, the high court’s decision is a devastating political loss for the Republican president. In a January social media post, he specualted on a negative ruling and the potentially trillions in repayment obligations, saying bluntly, “WE’RE SCREWED!”
