President Donald Trump responded with fire and fury to the Supreme Court’s ridiculous ruling against his tariffs by trotting out new statutory authorities identified by Treasury Secretary Bessent and others, and using that authority to raise tariffs to 15% after initially raising them to 10%, a strong rebuff of the ridiculous court.
As background, the Supreme Court found that President Donald Trump generally lacked the authority to implement the initial tariffs that his second administration quickly became famous for, ruling that the power to impose taxes lies with Congress. President Trump, however, has found new legal authorities to impose new tariffs in a rebuke to the Surpeme Court
The president initially announced, on February 20, after the Supreme Court ruling, that he had already signed a new tariff package into law, saying, “It is my Great Honor to have just signed, from the Oval Office, a Global 10% Tariff on all Countries, which will be effective almost immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The next day, February 21, he explained the 10% authority in more depth, and used that to then raise them all the way to 15%. He began, “Based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday, after MANY months of contemplation, by the United States Supreme Court, 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 on Countries.”
He went on to argue that those countries that are being targeted by the broad tariff are facing it because they have long, whether nominally our friends or enemies, been ripping Americans off, saying, “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.”
Concluding, he explained what is coming soon and next, writing, “During the next short number of months, the Trump Administration will determine and issue the new and legally permissible Tariffs, which will continue our extraordinarily successful process of Making America Great Again – GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
The president also noted, in another post on the 20th, just how absurd the SCOTUS ruling was, writing, “To show you how ridiculous the opinion is, the Court said that I’m not allowed to charge even $1 DOLLAR to any Country under IEEPA, I assume to protect other Countries, not the United States which they should be interested in protecting — But I am allowed to cut off any and all Trade or Business with that same Country, even imposing a Foreign Country destroying embargo, and do anything else I want to do to them — How nonsensical is that?”
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He added, “They are saying that I have the absolute right to license, but not the right to charge a license fee. What license has ever been issued without the right to charge a fee? But now the Court has given me the unquestioned right to ban all sorts of things from coming into our Country, a much more powerful Right than many people thought we had.”
Watch Bessent explain the tariff authorities the president has here: