Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats would block any effort to extend new import taxes beyond the summer.
President Trump reacts to SCOTUS tariff decision to lower tariffs
After expressing disappointment with the SCOTUS tariff decision, President Donald Trump announced that he had signed an order imposing 10% tariffs worldwide.
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats say President Donald Trump’s new 15% global tariffs cannot last beyond 150 days, creating a new hurdle for the White House following a heartbreaking defeat at the Supreme Court.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on February 23 that Senate Democrats will block any efforts this summer to extend import taxes that the president quickly imposed after the high court struck down sweeping emergency tariffs.
“Democrats will not go along with President Trump’s promotion of economic carnage,” Schumer said in a statement.
The opposition from Democrats in Congress was expected, but it underscored the challenges the White House now faces in preserving one of the president’s favorite policy tools after a Supreme Court justice ruled that the legal basis for his fees was illegal.
Shortly after the decision was made on February 20, President Trump said he intended to use another decades-old law, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, to impose a 10% import tariff worldwide. He later raised it to 15%.
But unlike President Trump’s previous strategies, the new strategy has an expiration date. Section 122 tariffs expire in 150 days unless extended by Congress.
With 60 votes in the Senate and no support from Democrats, any effort to remain Democratic will almost certainly be doomed on arrival.
Zachary Schermele is a Congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social..
