WASHINGTON – The United States began collecting a temporary new 10% global import tariff on Tuesday, but the Trump administration was working to increase it to 15%, a White House official said, sowing confusion over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies after last week’s Supreme Court defeat.

Trump initially signed an order on Friday for a 10% tariff to last 150 days to replace broad duties under an emergency law that were struck down by the Supreme Court, but on Saturday, he said he would increase the rate to 15%.

On Monday night, before the midnight start of collections, the US Customs and Border Protection agency notified shippers that the rate would be 10%.

The White House official told Reuters that Trump has had “no change of heart” in his desire for a 15% tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, but offered no details on the timing for that increase.

As of Monday, Trump had not signed a formal presidential order for the increase to 15% and CBP can only act on published presidential executive orders and proclamations.

CBP’s notice referred to his Friday order, saying that aside from products covered by exemptions, imports would “be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of 10%.”

UNCLEAR WHY LOWER RATE IS IMPOSED

The move added to confusion surrounding US trade policy, with no explanation offered in the notice for why the lower rate had been used.

“Trump is delivering the State of the Union address tonight, so it’s possible we might get a better sense of the next steps on tariffs,” Deutsche Bank said in a note.

“Net-net we still think the effective tariff rate will fall this year and that the world post-SCOTUS will see lower tariffs than the pre-SCOTUS world,” its analysts said, using the acronym for the Supreme Court of the United States.

Although a 10% tariff is less punitive than expected, traders cited uncertainty about the trade outlook as one reason global stocks opened lower on Tuesday. But major US indexes ended higher, as tech stocks rebounded, with the Nasdaq up 1.05%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.76%, and the broad S&P 500 Index gaining 0.77%.

The new tariff took effect at midnight, while collection of the tariffs annulled by the Supreme Court was halted. They had ranged from 10% to as much as 50%.

REFUND MOTIONS FILED

The plaintiffs who prevailed in the Supreme Court tariff case filed motions on Tuesday in federal courts to enforce the ruling and initiate a process for refunds.

The Liberty Justice Center said it and co-counsel Neal Katyal filed coordinated motions in the US Court of International Trade in New York and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington seeking immediate issuance of a mandate to return the case to CIT and to order the government to issue directives to refund the tariffs with interest. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the lower courts to sort out any refunds.

Reuters has reported that more than $175 billion in federal revenue was collected from the now-invalid tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, based on an estimate from the Penn-Wharton Budget Model.

Sara Albrecht, chairman of the Liberty Justice Center, which represented five small businesses challenging the tariffs, said the government needed to be held to earlier pledges for automatic refunds if the tariffs were struck down.

“The government cannot promise the courts that refunds will be automatic if the unlawful tariffs are struck down at the Supreme Court and then, after the decision, say those refunds might take years,” Albrecht said in a statement. “This is simple: the government unlawfully imposed a tax on Americans and took their money. We’d like it back.”

EU REASSURED ON TRADE DEAL

The new 10% tariff represents a conundrum for the European Union, which agreed to a trade deal with a 15% base tariff rate. European Commission Trade Minister Maros Sefcovic said the bloc faces a “transitional period” over Trump’s new temporary tariff, but added US trade officials have reassured him Washington will stand by the agreement.

It remains unclear whether and how companies will be refunded for tariff payments made under the program annulled by the Supreme Court.

The Section 122 law allows the president to impose the new duties for up to 150 days to address “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits and “fundamental international payments problems.”

Trump’s tariff order argued that a serious balance-of-payments deficit existed in the form of a $1.2 trillion annual US goods trade deficit, a current account deficit of 4% of GDP and a reversal of the US primary income surplus. But some economists and trade lawyers argue the US is not on the cusp of a balance-of-payments crisis, making the new duties vulnerable to a legal challenge.

China urged Washington to abandon its “unilateral tariffs,” indicating it was willing to hold another round of trade talks with the world’s largest economy, the country’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. — Reuters

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday she is considering legal action following a comment by tech billionaire Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, that alleged she was connected to drug cartels.

Mr. Musk’s post on X followed the capture and killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho,” by Mexican security forces.

In the post, Mr. Musk responded to a 2025 video of Ms. Sheinbaum discussing cartel violence and alleged that she was “saying what her cartel bosses tell her to say.” He did not provide further evidence.

“We are considering whether to take legal action,” Ms. Sheinbaum said during her daily morning press conference, adding that government lawyers are reviewing the matter.

STRONG FREE SPEECH PROTECTIONS

Ms. Sheinbaum could face difficulty suing Mr. Musk for defamation in the US because of strong legal protections for free speech. To prevail in a defamation case against Mr. Musk in the US, Ms. Sheinbaum would need to prove Mr. Musk knowingly said something false about her or recklessly disregarded the truth when he said it.

Tesla, Mr. Musk’s auto company, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Ms. Sheinbaum’s remarks.

In the 2025 video, Ms. Sheinbaum said a return to a “war on drugs” was not feasible.

“Returning to the war on drugs is not an option … it is outside the framework of the law,” she said.

The military offensive on cartels led by former President Felipe Calderon in 2006 led to bloody turf battles as gangs splintered, triggering a spiral of violence that many analysts see as a contributing cause to still-high homicide rates.

Ms. Sheinbaum said she expected security to continue to normalize in Mexico after cartel members coordinated a series of roadblocks and arson attacks after the government’s Sunday operation against Mr. Oseguera.

Asked if the operation marked a return to a more violent security stance, Ms. Sheinbaum said this would never be the case.

“The detention of a suspected criminal with an arrest warrant can generate this type of circumstance, but we are looking for peace, not war,” she said.

Ruling MORENA Party president Luisa Alcalde also reacted to the post on social media, saying Mr. Musk should use his platform and X social media network to fight drug consumption, addiction, disinformation and stop the promotion of narco culture.

“Wealth does not give moral authority,” she said. “The lives that are lost in this fight, often fueled by consumption in other countries, are worth infinitely more than any fortune amassed in Silicon Valley.”

Over 130,000 people are missing in Mexico, where much of the country’s violence is linked to drug cartels that sell products to and obtain firearms from the United States. — Reuters

DUBAI — Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that a deal with the US was “within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority”, days ahead of an expected fresh round of talks between the two sides in Geneva.

The talks are set to take place on Thursday in Geneva, a senior US official said on Monday, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner slated to meet with an Iranian delegation for the negotiations.

The two countries resumed negotiations earlier this month as the US builds up its military capability in the Middle East. Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the region if it is attacked.

“We have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests,” Mr. Araqchi said in a post on X.

The Iranian top diplomat said his country would resume the talks with “a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal in the shortest possible time”.

Earlier, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said Iran was ready to take all necessary steps to reach a deal with the United States.

“We are ready to reach an agreement as soon as possible. We will do whatever it takes to make this happen. We will enter the negotiating room in Geneva with complete honesty and good faith,” Mr. Takht-Ravanchi said in comments carried by state media.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump’s first option was always diplomacy but that he was willing to use lethal force if necessary.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that Tehran would seriously consider a combination of sending half of its most highly enriched uranium abroad, diluting the rest and taking part in creating a regional enrichment consortium – an idea periodically raised during years of Iran-linked diplomacy.

Iran would do this in return for US recognition of Iran’s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment” under a deal that would also include lifting economic sanctions, the official said.

“If there is an attack or aggression against Iran, we will respond according to our defense plans… A US attack on Iran is a real gamble,” Mr. Takht-Ravanchi added.

Indirect talks between the two sides last year brought no agreement, primarily due to friction over a US demand that Iran forgo uranium enrichment on its soil, which Washington views as a pathway to a nuclear bomb.

Iran has always denied seeking such weapons.

The US joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites last June, effectively curtailing Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Mr. Trump saying its key nuclear sites were “obliterated”. But Iran is still believed to possess stockpiles enriched previously, which Washington wants it to relinquish. — Reuters

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron accepted the resignation on Tuesday of the head of Paris’ Louvre museum, which has been grappling with the fallout from a high-profile jewel heist and rolling strikes.

Laurence des Cars tendered her resignation, which Mr. Macron accepted, “praising an act of responsibility at a time when the world’s largest museum needs calm and a strong new impetus to successfully carry out major projects involving security and modernization”, his office said.

Ms. Des Cars has faced intense criticism since burglars made off in October with jewels worth an estimated $102 million that are still missing, exposing glaring security gaps at the world’s most-visited museum.

Strikes over pay and conditions since December have also led to regular closures and added to a list of woes that included two water leaks as well as a massive ticket fraud investigation.

Critics including the state auditors’ office have questioned the museum’s low spending on security and infrastructure maintenance while it made lavish purchases of new artwork, only a quarter of which is open to the public, and spent heavily on post-pandemic relaunch projects. — Reuters