Trump says he has ‘absolute right’ to charge tariffs in another form

The US Supreme Court in February had struck down Mr Trump's global tariffs. Read more at straitstimes.com.

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on March 15 asserted he had the authority to impose duties despite the US Supreme Court in February striking down his global tariffs.

“I have the absolute right to charge TARIFFS in another form, and have already started to do so,” he said in a long post on his Truth Social network.

Mr Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on US imports via executive order shortly after the Supreme Court ruling.

Washington launched new trade probes last week into 60 economies including China, the EU and Japan, which will look into “failures to take action on forced labor” and whether they burden or restrict US commerce.

Mr Trump’s post came hours after Beijing urged Washington to “immediately correct its erroneous ways” as the two countries began a new round of negotiations.

Beijing’s commerce ministry called the latest US investigations “extremely unilateral, arbitrary and discriminatory,” accusing Washington of “attempting to construct trade barriers.”