Trump’s retaliatory global import tariff grows from 10% to 15%

Barely 24 hours after responding to his “reciprocal” tariffs being struck down and his retaliation of a 10% global tariff, President Donald Trump has upped the damage by making it 15%.

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that sweeping tariffs introduced by President Trump were done illegally. While Trump’s retaliation was expected, it seems that he didn’t believe he went far enough with his new tariff plan.

Trump introduced a new global import tariff of 10% under Section 122 on Friday, which follows rules including being a uniform rate instead of country-specific, and for a limited term of up to 150 days unless Congress extends the period. However, Section 122 did permit temporary tariffs of up to 15%, higher than the 10% rate set by the President.

In a Saturday post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that, with immediate effect, the 10% rate would instead become the fully allowed level of 15%, reports CNN. He added that the administration would work in the “next short number of months” to issue new and “legally permissible” tariffs.

It is presumed that Trump is trying to get the same effect as the previously struck-down tariff, but in a manner that would be tougher to dismantle.

The raising of the tariff followed a “thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision,” Trump wrote in his social post.

While the original 10% tariff level was due to start from 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday, it is unclear if the 15% version will happen at that time.

More pain for Apple

As ever with tariff increases, it’s a certainty that Apple will be hit in some way. It was already going to be penalized just like every other company in the United States under the 10% level, but it’s half as bad again with the new rate.

With the 10% rate, Apple would’ve had to pay about four times as much as it paid in tariffs in February 2025. Under 15%, that goes up to six times the rate.

The way that the tariff is being applied against imports does limit the overall damage to Apple’s bottom line, however. Since the global import tariff forbids a country-by-country approach, it cannot be used to increase the tariff level in specific countries, such as Apple’s major supply chain locations in China, India, or Vietnam.

It’s certainly far from the 145% tariff that was once applied against China. But it’s still an import tax that Apple has to deal with.