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US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has announced a 10% global tariff on “all countries” after the Supreme Court struck down his reciprocal levies policy.
Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs”, imposed on most of the rest of the world last April under an emergency powers law, were overturned by the US Supreme Court yesterday in a major blow to the president’s economic agenda.
But he doubled down on imposing levies following the decision, claiming the court “has been swayed by foreign interests” and other countries were “dancing in the streets, but they won’t be dancing for long, that I can assure you”.
Posting on Truth Social shortly before midnight Irish time, Trump said: “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!”
He later added in a follow-up post criticising the Supreme Court Justices who ruled against his levies: “Their decision was ridiculous but, now the adjustment process begins, and we will do everything possible to take in even more money than we were taking in before!”
Speaking at the White House earlier, Trump said the Supreme Court decision affirmed his ability to charge more tariffs under different statutes.
He said: “In order to protect our country, a president can actually charge more tariffs than I was charging in the past… period of a year.
“Under the various tariffs authorities, so we can use other of the statutes, other of the tariff authorities, which have also been confirmed and are fully allowed.
“Therefore, effective immediately, all national security tariffs under Section 232 and existing Section 301 tariffs, they’re existing, they’re there, remain in place, fully in place. And in full force.
“Today I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged.
“And we’re also initiating several Section 301 and other investigations to protect our country from unfair trading practises of other countries and companies.”
Trump said that some trade deals negotiated after he imposed his reciprocal tariffs will no longer be valid after the US Supreme Court ruling.
“Some of them stand. Many of them stand. Some of them won’t, and they’ll be replaced with the other tariffs,” he said.
The US president said the 10% “global tariff” would be in place for around five months.
“We’re going straight ahead with 10% straight across the board… and then during that period of about five months, we are doing the various investigations necessary to put fair tariffs, or tariffs period, on other countries.
“So we’re doing that, period, but we’re immediately instituting the 10% provision, which we’re allowed to do. And in the end, I think we’re taking more money than we’ve taken in before.”
The US has collected more than 133 billion dollars (£98.4 billion) since Trump imposed the tariffs, but now faces the prospect of having to refund that money to importers.
Yesterday’s decision, approved by a 6-3 majority, found that a 1977 law did not give Trump the power to impose tariffs without the approval of the US Congress.
Tánaiste and Finance Minister Simon Harris said this evening that the Goverment is “monitoring the situation closely” following the Supreme Court ruling.
“Low tariffs are in everyone’s interests and, at a European level, we will continue to engage with our US counterparts in order to promote measures that work for all,” Harris said.
Harris added that tariffs “by some other means” , such as via an “alternative legal basis, cannot be ruled out”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee labelled the Supreme court ruling a “significant development in the wider global trading environment”.
She added that the Department of Foreign Affairs will monitor developments “closely” and assess any potential implications for Irish trade, businesses and jobs.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec) said that the Supreme Court ruling will “inevitably weaken the hand of the US Government in relation to the application of across-the-board tariffs”.
The US has long been the State’s most important export market, a trend that intensified sharply in 2025 amid tariff uncertainty.
Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom said the money Trump’s tariffs had raised came from US voters’ pockets — and should be refunded.
“Time to pay the piper, Donald. These tariffs were nothing more than an illegal cash grab that drove up prices and hurt working families, so you could wreck longstanding alliances and extort them,” he said.
Issue an immediate refund to all Americans for your illegal tax. Now. https://t.co/v5pUv2u6qN
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) February 20, 2026
Governor JB Pritzker sent Donald Trump an invoice Friday demanding nearly $9 billion in tariff refunds for Illinois families after the US Supreme Court ruled the president’s much-touted levies are illegal.
“Your tariff taxes wreaked havoc on farmers, enraged our allies and sent grocery prices through the roof,” the Democrat wrote, warning further legal action could follow if compensation was not forthcoming.
In the letter, shared with US media, Pritzker demanded about $1,700 for every Illinois household — the amount Yale University experts said the average US household would pay on tariffs last year.
With reporting by PA and Andrew Walsh
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