U.S. duties will increase under Trump's decision to 15% this week - U.S. Treasury Department

The duties announced by US President Donald Trump will rise from 10% to 15% as early as this week, Treasury Department head Scott Bessent told CNBC.

During the interview, Bessent was asked about the inconsistency of the actual duty rate of 10% now in place with Trump's decision to increase it to 15% and whether the secretary knows when the rate will be raised. "Probably sometime this week," Bessent replied.

The new duties are imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, and therefore they can only be in effect for 150 days unless Congress approves their extension, the Finance Minister said. During this period, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce plan to complete studies, the results of which will allow the introduction of additional duties, said Bessent.

By August 2026, U.S. duty rates will effectively return to the levels they were at before the Supreme Court ruled Trump's 2025 import levies illegal, according to the U.S. Treasury Department chief.

In 2025, Trump, without authority from Congress, imposed a wide range of duties on imports from most countries, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

However, on February 20, the Supreme Court majority ruled that Trump had no legal basis to circumvent Congress by using IEEPA to impose these duties. Hours after that ruling, the US leader announced that he had signed an executive order imposing a global 10% duty under a different law. A day later, he announced that he would raise this new rate to 15% "immediately." Despite these statements, at the time the duties came into effect, their rate was still 10%, emphasizes CNBC.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor