Bessent says global 15% tariff starts this week, predicts Trump duties will return to old levels later this year
Source
American Shipper
Post Date
03/05/2026
Key Points
? Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump? recently announced 15% global tariff will likely be implemented this week. ? That would be an increase from currrent levels of 10%. ? Bessent predicted that U.S. tariff rates will return in five months to where they stood before the Supreme Court struck down Trump? ?eciprocal?duties
President Donald Trump? recently announced 15% global tariff will likely be implemented sometime this week, rising from its current rate of 10%, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday.
Bessent also predicted that U.S. tariff rates would, by August, effectively return to where they stood before the Supreme Court recently struck down the often-steeper duties that Trump unilaterally imposed on most of the world? countries last year.
?t? my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months,?Bessent said in an interview on CNBC? ?quawk Box.?
Trump last year, without authorization from Congress, implemented a broad array of tariffs on imports from most other countries by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling on Feb. 20, said Trump did not have the legal authority to circumvent Congress by using IEEPA to impose those duties. Hours after that ruling, Trump said he had signed an utive order to impose a global 10% tariff under a different law. A day later, Trump said he would hike that new tariff rate to 15%, ?ffective immediately.?
But in fact, when the tariff took effect, it only stood at 10%. During his interview on ?quawk Box,?Bessent was asked about the discrepancy between the 15% level that Trump had promised and the current rate, and if Bessent knew when a change to the higher level would occur. ?hat? likely sometime this week,?Bessent said. He noted that those replacement tariffs, which are being imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, can last for only 150 days unless Congress approves an extension. During that interval, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department will complete trade-related studies that can allow them to impose more tariffs, Bessent said. ?t? my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months, and those are very fulsome authorities,?Bessent said. ?hey have survived more than 4,000 legal challenges,?he said. ?hey are more slow moving, but they are more robust.?
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Bessent says global 15% tariff starts this week, pred..
