On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Donald Trump’s tariff policy, and shortly afterwards the US President announced new tariffs. But what applies now? An overview.
Feb 23, 2026, 4:39 p.mFebruary 23, 2026, 5:15 p.m
Donald Trump suffered a bitter defeat at the Supreme Court on Friday. The U.S. Supreme Court argued that many of Trump’s tariffs, imposed under a 1971 law, were illegal.
On Saturday Trump announced then a new, global tariff rate of 15 percent on imports into the USA. Since then there has been renewed uncertainty on the global economic market. However, this increase will only apply if it is also anchored in a regular manner. But that shouldn’t take long.
What kind of tariffs apply now? And for whom? And in which industry? The The New York Times analyzed various government data for this purpose.
To the data
All data comes from the New York Times analysis. The newspaper relies on data from various US authorities. However, the tariff rates used in the article can change again at any time, depending on the orders of the Trump administration. As of Monday afternoon, these are the applicable customs rates worldwide.
These tariffs are invalid
When Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs on Liberation Day in the spring, the world was shocked – including Switzerland. Suddenly Swiss export companies had to pay one of the highest tariff rates in the world.
Customs policy, normally a task for parliament, is based on a law from the 1970s, specifically the International Emergency Economics Powers Act (IEEPA). However, the word “customs” does not appear expressly in this law. Trump was the first US president to interpret the law in this way.
Trump imposed a general tariff rate of ten percent and adjusted it depending on the country. “This was the essential element of his trading strategy,” writes the “New York Times”.
But the strategy was sued. And on Friday it was thrown out by the Supreme Court. The tariffs that he announced on the occasion of “Liberation Day” and on the basis of the IEEPA no longer apply.
Trump in front of the media on Liberation Day. These tariffs were deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. Image: KEYSTONE/KENT NISHIMURA
US Customs stops collecting invalid duties
Starting Tuesday, the U.S. Customs Service (CBP) will suspend collection of tariffs that were invalidated by the Supreme Court. All customs codes for duties imposed in connection with the emergency law (IEEPA) would be deactivated, according to an official note. “The tariffs imposed under the emergency economic powers (…) will no longer be in force and will no longer be levied from 00:00 a.m. (05:00 GMT) on February 24, 2026,” said the notice, which was addressed, among other things, to logistics companies.
These tariffs remain in place
The Supreme Court has not ruled all of Trump’s tariffs illegal. The old tariff rate continues to apply to tariffs on goods such as foreign steel, wood, cars or other goods.
Basically, Trump’s tariffs can be divided into two categories:
- Taxes on imports from certain countries
- Tariffs on certain products, often regardless of their origin
The last category was not affected by the Supreme Court’s decision. The list of certain products with such tariffs has become longer and longer in recent months.
Trump is relying on a federal law intended to address trade issues that “pose a threat to national security,” writes the “New York Times”.
And Trump wants even more industry-specific tariffs, for example on semiconductors or the wind power industry.
But: These industry-specific tariffs are not added to the other tariffs everywhere. For countries with which Trump has concluded a “deal” (including Switzerland), the agreements in the agreements apply.
What happens to the negotiated agreements?
Not only Switzerland has concluded a customs deal, the EU, Japan and South Korea, among others, have also negotiated a deal with the US government.
But what will happen next with these agreements is uncertain. The current additional tariff of 15 percent is based on a 1974 trade law that states such tariffs are valid for 150 days. After that, it needs congressional approval.
It is unclear whether this also affects Swiss imported goods, which would previously have been below the percentage of 15. On Sunday, State Secretary Helene Budliger Artieda said “Sunday view”that this is currently the subject of clarification. She suspects that one has to come to terms with the tariffs.
However, with an increase to 15 percent, around 20 percent would be incurred for industrial products. SECO assumes that the new percentages will be added to those that applied before April 2025 – and that was 5 percent for many industrial products. If that were to come true, the tariffs would be above the upper limit that was agreed in November, reports NZZ on Sunday.
Various Swiss business leaders with Donald Trump in the Oval Office in November 2025.Image: zvg
The EU has already gone one step further. The European Parliament formally put the implementation of the customs agreement between the USA and the EU on hold on Monday. The background is the tariffs newly announced by US President Donald Trump, as the chairman of the Trade Committee, Bernd Lange (SPD), announced.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump agreed last summer that a maximum tariff should not be exceeded for most EU imports to the USA. The legally binding agreement subsequently drawn up with the USA still has to be approved by the EU Parliament.
Some countries suddenly have to pay more
For some countries the new tariff rate is the same as the old tariff rate, but some countries now suddenly have higher tariffs, as this map shows.
If you look at the import volume of goods from the various countries, it is also noticeable that the new rates are significantly better, especially for countries such as Canada and Mexico, as the import volume of these countries is also much larger than is the case with Australia, for example. Such countries (shown in green on the map) benefit most from the Supreme Court’s ruling.
With the ruling, many countries (marked in purple) suddenly pay a higher tariff rate. For many African countries, for example, this plays a relatively minor role, as these countries export little to the USA.
The following map shows how large the export volume of each country to the USA is. The export data comes from 2024.
Comparison with the new tariff rates by export volume to the USA
Graphic: watson • Source: New York Times / US Census Bureau
Companies demand money back, but…
Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling The first Swiss companies are demanding the money back for overpaid US tariffsfor example Swatch or Läderach and Breitling.
“As far as the chances of reclaims and the necessary procedure are concerned, a lot is still open at the moment,” said Noé Blancpain from the Swissmem industry association. The Supreme Court has not decided the issue of reclaiming the customs duties, so lower courts will now have to rule on the matter.
Blancpain explained that the duties were technically paid by the importer in the USA – this could be the customer itself, a sales company or a subsidiary of the Swiss manufacturer. Accordingly, the importer must make the reimbursement claims.
In practice, in most cases, Swiss industrial companies would have covered part of the customs costs by adjusting prices. Therefore, they would have to come to an agreement with their customers.
(With material from sda)