White House Official Says Work Underway to Raise Global Tariff to 15%

10% rate effective from the 24th
Timing of further increase not disclosed

White House. Yonhap News

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that it is working on the practical details of a new global tariff regime, which will replace the “reciprocal tariffs” struck down by the Supreme Court, and raise the current 10% rate to 15%.

On the 24th (local time), Reuters quoted a White House official as saying that there has been no change in President Trump’s basic stance of raising the global tariff rate to 15%. However, this official did not mention specific details, such as when the rate would be raised to 15%.

On the 20th, immediately after the Supreme Court’s ruling, President Trump signed an executive order imposing a 10% global tariff. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the 24th Eastern Time in the United States (2:01 p.m. on the 24th Korea Standard Time), the new 10% tariff began to apply to U.S.-bound exports from all countries around the world, except for “exempt items.”

On the 21st, the day after he issued the 10% global tariff proclamation, President Trump stated via social media (SNS) that he would raise the rate to 15%, but he did not disclose when the increase would take effect or other details.

Accordingly, the newly introduced global tariff rate is initially set at 10%, and it is expected to rise to 15% after the necessary procedures, such as the issuance of a new proclamation, are completed in the near future.

Previously, on the 20th, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the president does not have the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose and collect reciprocal tariffs (country-specific differential tariff rates) and the “fentanyl tariffs” (tariffs imposed on China, Mexico, and Canada on the grounds that they were not cooperating sufficiently in preventing the inflow of the narcotic fentanyl into the United States), thereby invalidating the reciprocal tariffs, the fentanyl tariffs, and related measures.