The United States is preparing to raise a temporary global import tariff to 15% from 10% as early as this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, signaling an escalation in President Donald Trump’s effort to rebuild his trade regime after a court setback.
Bessent told CNBC the higher rate was “likely sometime this week,” following Trump’s late-February order to lift the levy to the maximum allowed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The administration imposed the new tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s earlier global duties that had relied on national emergency powers, forcing officials to pivot to alternative legal authority.
Under Section 122, the president can apply tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days without congressional approval, making the move a temporary bridge while officials pursue more durable trade actions. Bessent said the administration intends to use the five-month window to advance investigations under Section 301, which targets unfair trade practices, and Section 232, which addresses national security concerns.
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He said rebuilding the tariff framework through those channels could restore U.S. duties to prior levels within about five months, describing the alternative tools as slower but more robust.
The evolving tariff strategy has injected fresh uncertainty into global supply chains and export markets. For trade-dependent economies such as Bangladesh, which rely heavily on apparel shipments to the United States, any broad-based tariff increase could add cost pressure and complicate order flows if applied widely across trading partners.
Markets and trading partners are now watching closely for the formal implementation notice and any country-specific exemptions as Washington reshapes its tariff architecture.
