New US tariff starts at 10% as Trump works to hike it to 15%

New 10 percent tariffs on imported goods announced by US President Donald Trump came into effect days after the country’s Supreme Court struck down most of his previous tariff regime.

‌Washington imposed an additional tariff from Tuesday of 10 percent on ⁠all goods not ⁠covered by exemptions, a notice issued by US Customs and Border Protection said.

Trump has doubled down on imposing tariffs on trading partners since the top court on Friday struck down many of his sweeping and often arbitrary duties, in a rebuke of his signature economic policy.

Reacting to the court’s ruling, the US president initially announced a new ⁠temporary global tariff ⁠of 10 percent but later said on Saturday he would increase that level ⁠to 15 percent.

The move added to confusion surrounding US trade policy, with no explanation offered for why the lower rate had been used.

An unnamed White House official told Reuters news agency Trump had “no change of heart” in his desire for a 15 percent tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, but offered no details on the timing for that increase.

Collection of the new tariffs began at midnight on Tuesday, while the collection of the ⁠tariffs annulled by the Supreme Court was halted. They ⁠ranged from 10 percent to as much as 50 percent.

“Trump is delivering the State of the Union address tonight so it’s possible we might get a better sense of the next steps on tariffs,” Deutsche Bank said in a note.

“Net-net we still think the effective tariff rate will fall this year and that the world post-SCOTUS will see lower tariffs than the pre-SCOTUS world,” its analysts said, using the acronym for the Supreme Court of the United States.

The conservative-majority court ruled six to three that Trump exceeded his authority in using a 1977 law to impose sudden tariffs on individual countries.

But Trump says the tariffs are justified as a means “to deal with the large and serious United States balance-of-payments deficits”, according to a White House press release.

The new duty, taking effect Tuesday, only lasts for 150 days unless extended by Congress and is widely seen as a bridge towards a more durable trade policy.

Trump’s tariff order argued a serious balance of payments deficit existed in the form ⁠of a $1.2 trillion annual US goods trade deficit, ⁠a current account deficit of 4 percent of gross domestic product and a reversal of the US primary income surplus.

On Monday, Trump warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the United States, saying if they ‌did he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws.

Meanwhile, China urged the US to ⁠abandon its “unilateral tariffs” indicating ⁠also it’s willing to hold another round ‌of trade talks with the world’s largest economy, the Commerce Ministry⁠said in a statement on Tuesday.

China will decide at ⁠the right time ⁠on adjusting ⁠countermeasures to the latest US tariff ‌adjustments, it added.

Japan also said it asked Washington to ensure its treatment under a new tariff regime would be ⁠as favourable as in an existing agreement, treading carefully to avoid rocking the boat before the Japanese prime minister’s US visit next month.

While the latest measures could increase the tariff cost for some Japanese export items, Japan’s trade minister and US Commerce Secretary ⁠Howard Lutnick affirmed on a call on Monday the two countries would implement the trade deal struck last year “in good faith and without delay”, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

The new 10 percent tariff represents a conundrum for the European Union, which agreed to a trade deal with a 15 percent base tariff rate.

European Commission Trade Minister Maros Sefcovic said the bloc faces a “transitional period” over Trump’s new temporary tariff, but added US trade officials have reassured him Washington will stand by the agreement.

It remains unclear whether and how companies will be refunded for tariff ⁠payments made under the programme annulled by the Supreme Court.