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‘Effective immediately’: Trump responds to SCOTUS ruling by ordering new global tariff

February 21, 2026 | | Print Article

The Supreme Court’s “nonsensical” tariff ruling found the president “doubling down” with a new effort, “effective immediately,” with a “more powerful Right than many people thought we had.”

Only days before President Donald Trump is slated to make the first official State of the Union address of his second administration, a 6-3 ruling from the Supreme Court determined that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) could not be used to impose tariffs.

However, the dissent authored by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, was touted by the chief executive as he announced a new 10% global tariff.

Sharing a lengthy post from Truth Social along with a clip from his remarks in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, where he’d read the declaration, Trump slammed the court for allegedly taking steps to “protect other Countries, not the United States which they should be interested in protecting.”

“Effective immediately, all National Security TARIFFS under Section 232 and existing Section 301 TARIFFS, remain in place, and in full force and effect,” the post detailed. “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 are also initiating several Section 301 and other Investigations to protect our Country from unfair Trading practices.”

Using Section 232, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962; Sections 122, 201, and 301, the Trade act of 1974; and Section 338, the Tariff Act of 1930 as examples, Kavanaugh had said the president is authorized to imposter tariffs, justifying “most (if not all) of the tariffs at issue in this case–albeit perhaps with a few additional procedural steps” not required under IEEPA.

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“In essence,” continued the justice, “the Court today concludes that the President checked the wrong statutory box by relying on IEEPA rather than another statute to impose these tariffs.”

In his announcement, the commander-in-chief had dubbed the Supreme Court’s majority ruling on IEEPA as “nonsensical” under the impression that it would still allow him to sever trade ties with businesses in foreign nations and impose embargoes. “But now the Court has given me the unquestioned right to ban all sorts of things from coming into our County, a much more powerful Right than many people thought we had.”

In her own statement on X that included a clip of the president addressing his efforts to aid farmers, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, “Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling against one form of tariff, we are not backing down — not even for a second.”

“We’re doubling down on rebalancing global trade so it finally works for America. That means fair deals that put our farmers and ranchers first: protecting family farms, strengthening rural economies, and ensuring American agriculture leads the world again,” she went on as she pointed to double-digit increases in exports of corn, dairy, ethanol and tree nuts before decrying actions taken under then-President Joe Biden.

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“America’s agricultural trade balance deteriorated dramatically under Biden, shifting from a surplus during President Trump’s first term, to a predicted $50 billion agricultural deficit just last year,” stated Rollins who noted that after shrinking that deficit to $41.5 billion, forecasts looked to a further decrease to $37 billion for 2026. “Our heartland grows the products that feed, fuel, and clothe the nation. I am grateful to @POTUS for putting them first.”

Combined, the message from the White House remained, “Keep calm,” while he made a point to call out the dissent among the more conservative justices whom he had appointed, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts.

“What happened today with the two United States Supreme Court Justices that I appointed against great opposition, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, whether people like it or not, never seems to happen with Democrats,” said the president. “They vote against the Republicans, and never against themselves, almost every single time, no matter how good a case we have. At least I didn’t appoint Roberts, who led the effort to allow Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for years to continue to do so — But we won’t let it happen. The new TARIFFS, totally tested and accepted as Law, are on their way!”

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Kevin Haggerty
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