Trump Vows New 10% Tariffs After Supreme Court Loss

Summary

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WSJ What’s News (Feb 20, 2026)

Trump Vows New 10% Tariffs After Supreme Court Loss

Episode Overview

This episode dives into two major stories driving business and politics:

• The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision striking down President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs and his immediate vow to implement new 10% global tariffs via alternative legal avenues.
• The economic and political fallout, including reactions from markets, new economic data, and GOP infighting over Trump’s aggressive immigration policies.

The episode features insights from WSJ economic policy reporter Gavin Bade and political reporter Sabrina Rodriguez, and includes a candid interview with Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL).

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Supreme Court Rules Global Tariffs Illegal

[00:33 – 05:18]

• The Supreme Court ruled (6-3) that Trump’s second-term global tariffs overstepped presidential power by lacking congressional authorization.
  • “The first time the Supreme Court has definitively struck down one of Trump's second term policies.” (Alex Osila, 00:59)
• Two Categories of Tariffs in the Case:
  1. Global tariffs to repair trade deficits.
  2. Targeted tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China (fentanyl-related).
• Tariffs on individual industries (steel, cars, copper) are unaffected and remain in place. (Gavin Bade, 01:54)
  • “Notably, Trump’s tariffs on individual industries... Those remain in place.” (Gavin Bade, 01:54)

Refunds Unresolved

• Over 1,000 companies have already filed for tariff refunds, but the Court did not address this, leaving the issue to be litigated, possibly for years.
  • "You’ll probably be in court for five years sorting this out... There's no easy resolution to the refunds issue, at least in the short term." (Gavin Bade, 02:17)

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2. Trump’s Immediate Response: New Tariffs

[02:51 – 05:15]

• Trump swiftly announces new global tariffs “with a different legal basis.”
• Two-pronged approach:
  1. Section 122 Tariffs: Temporary (up to 150 days) 10% global tariff while longer-term tariffs are prepared.
  2. Section 301 Tariffs: More permanent, requiring an investigation and report. Used previously against China. These are considered “legally defensible.”
  • “Trump wants to do these things immediately. So he has this kind of one-two step: okay, we've got our temporary tariffs, and then we will come back and have the longer lasting ones later.” (Gavin Bade, 03:03)

Short-Term Business Impact

• For now, companies unlikely to change investment or shipping plans until the new regime is clarified.
  • “No one's going to make major investment decisions or even shipping decisions based on this. There’s still a lot of work to be done here and a lot of open questions as to how they’ll try to reconstitute this tariff regime.” (Gavin Bade, 04:20)

Key Quote: Limits on Power

• “Trump wanted to use these tariffs to exert his own personal authority over the entire global economy. Now, they have been pegged back. They have been told: that is not the case. You are not all powerful in the global economy. Actually, Congress didn’t give you this authority.” (Gavin Bade, 04:55)

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3. Economic and Market Fallout

[05:20 – 07:33]

• Stock indexes volatile: rose after court ruling, dropped before Trump’s presser, recovered after new tariffs announced.
  • Nasdaq led gains, finishing +0.9%. (Alex Osila, 05:20)
• Commerce Department data: GDP growth slowed sharply to 1.4% (down from 4.4% prior quarter); inflation ticked up.
  • Fed’s favorite inflation metric (PCE) rose 0.4% in December.
  • “The data underscores why many Fed officials have turned cautious about supporting further interest rate cuts.” (Alex Osila, 06:09)

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4. GOP Tension: Immigration and Political Risks

[07:34 – 11:55]

• Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), a Cuban American from a Hispanic district, criticizes implementation of Trump’s harsh deportation policies, warning it could alienate Hispanic voters and imperil GOP in midterms.
  • “She's seeing in her community and across the country the way that this administration is focusing on all people who are in the country illegally and not just people who, who have necessarily committed crimes.” (Sabrina Rodriguez, 09:13)

The ‘Dignity Act’ Proposal

• Salazar’s bipartisan bill offers legal status without citizenship to undocumented immigrants, with explicit conditions:
  • “You are not going to be American. I am not going to give you any federal programs. I am not going to allow you to use our health care system. You have to pay for your crimes. You have to pay a fine. You have to give me 1% of your salary. And then I'm going to give you the dignity status. It's not amnesty. It's dignity.” (Maria Elvira Salazar, 10:15)
• The bill hasn’t gained much traction but has bipartisan support and business group endorsements. Salazar believes White House support would sway Congress.

Salazar’s Warning on Voter Disillusionment

• “One out of two, 55% of Hispanic males voted for Trump. And now they're disillusioned because we cannot conflate the gangster with the gardener or the nanny with a narco or the construction worker with a coyote. You cannot do that. And unfortunately, that happened. So now we have to course correct and send the right message that the Hispanics are welcomed once again in the GOP.” (Maria Elvira Salazar, 11:09)
• Growing consensus among some Republicans for a middle ground, as demographic shifts threaten long-term GOP coalition.

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5. Other International & Security Developments

[07:33 – 08:39]

• WSJ exclusive: Estimates that 20,000 people at large in Syria after mass escape from Al Hol camp (ISIS families).
  • U.S. officials and intelligence agencies warn about raised risks of next-generation militants in the wake of loss of U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces’ control.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Gavin Bade on Presidential Limits:
  “Trump wanted to use these tariffs to exert his own personal authority over the entire global economy. Now they have been pegged back... Actually, Congress didn’t give you this authority.” [04:55]
• Rep. Salazar on Dignity, Not Amnesty:
  “You are not going to be American. I am not going to give you any federal programs... It's not amnesty. It's dignity.” [10:15]
• Salazar on Hispanic Voters:
  “You cannot conflate the gangster with the gardener or the nanny with a narco or the construction worker with a coyote. You cannot do that... we have to course correct.” [11:09]

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:33 | Introduction to Supreme Court tariff decision | | 01:54 | Gavin Bade on which tariffs remain unaffected | | 02:17 | Gavin Bade on unresolved refunds | | 03:03 | Gavin Bade on new tariffs and legal basis | | 04:20 | Impact on businesses | | 04:55 | The real damage: presidential power limitations | | 05:20 | Market volatility and economic data | | 07:33 | WSJ exclusive: mass escape from Syrian ISIS camp | | 08:39 | Sabrina Rodriguez introduces Rep. Salazar’s background | | 09:13 | Salazar's critique of current deportation policies | | 10:15 | Salazar explains the “Dignity Act” | | 11:09 | Salazar on Hispanic Republican disillusionment |

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Conclusion

This episode provides a clear, nuanced breakdown of a pivotal Supreme Court ruling on tariffs, President Trump’s immediate challenge to it, and the downstream effects for global markets and U.S. political coalitions—particularly among Latino voters. Via expert commentary and firsthand political voices, WSJ’s “What’s News” connects fast-moving headlines with deeper currents shaping business, policy, and society.

Transcript

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[Alex Osila]

New economic data show that growth slowed and inflation rose at the end of last year. Plus, the Supreme Court rules that President Trump's global tariffs are illegal. President Trump responds with more tariffs.

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[Alex Osila]

the Republican congresswoman pushing back on Trump's immigration policies. It's Friday, February 20th. I'm Alex Osila for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. The US Supreme Court ruled today that President Trump's tariffs are illegal. In its 6 to 3 decision, the justices found that the president went too far in enacting his most sweet, sweeping tariffs without clear authorization from Congress. The first time the Supreme Court has definitively struck down one of Trump's second term policies. For more on the implications of the ruling, I'm joined now by WSJ economic policy reporter Gavin Bade. Gavin, the case involved two categories of tariffs. One that Trump imposed on pretty much every country in the world, ostensibly to repair trade deficits, and the other on Mexico, Canada and China connected to fentanyl. Are there tariffs that aren't affected by this ruling?

[Gavin Bade]

Yes, Notably Trump's tariffs on individual industries. Those are like the tariffs on steel and aluminum, on cars and car parts, on trucks, on copper, on lumber. Those are under a different legal authority, completely unrelated to this case. Those remain in place.

[Alex Osila]

Did the ruling say what happens to the tariffs that companies have already paid?

[Gavin Bade]

No, it did not. And that is a big point of contention here. You have over a thousand companies that have already filed in court saying we want, want refunds if these tariffs are struck down. The Supreme Court did not weigh in to say what happens. This means that it will probably be litigated in lower courts, and the president said at a press conference that you'll probably be in court for five years sorting this out. So whether or not that means that they're going to fight this Tooth and nail for that long, I am not sure. But there's no easy resolution to the refunds issue, at least in the short term.

[Alex Osila]

Speaking of that press conference, another thing that came out of it was that President Trump announced new tariffs, including a 10th global tariff with a different legal basis. Do we at this point expect those to stand?

[Gavin Bade]

At this point, I think those tariffs, the new ones he announced, are more legally defensible than the ones that were struck down. So he announced there's two sets of tariffs that he's talking about. The first one, it's under what's called Section 1 22. And this allows the President to impose tariffs for up to 150 days. It's very time limited. He said we will impose a 10% tariff across the globe. So kind of reinstituting his global minimum tariff that he had done under ipa, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. So that tariff authority will act as a stopgap while they get other tariffs ready. And those other tariffs will come under what's called Section 301 of the Trade Act. That is a also a very legally defensible option. There are many tariffs already on the books under section 301. It's also what Trump used in his first term for tariffs on China. But the whole thing is you have to do an investigation, you have to gas evidence, you have to write a report. So that all takes time. Trump wants to do these things immediately. So he has this kind of one, two step, okay, we've got our temporary tariffs and then we will come back and have the longer lasting ones later.

[Alex Osila]

How does this really affect how companies will operate in this tariff environment?

[Gavin Bade]

I don't think it'll affect a lot in the short term. Right. No one's going to make major investment decisions or maybe even shipping decisions based on this. There's still a lot of work to be done here and a lot of open questions as to how they will try to reconstitute this tariff regime. I think what he was trying to tell international markets and governments abroad is that even if it's not under this law, you can be sure of one thing, and that's I'm going to have tariffs on you.

[Alex Osila]

Right. And trade specialists have said that US Businesses are still paying tariffs despite the ruling and the changes, because it'll take a little time to sort everything out.

[Gavin Bade]

I think the most damaging thing for him and his team is just that they have now been shown a limit to their power. Trump wanted to use these tariffs to exert his own personal authority over the entire global economy. Now they have been pegged back. They have been told that is not the case. You are not all powerful in the global economy. Actually, Congress didn't give you this authority.

[Alex Osila]

That was WSJ reporter Gavin Bade. Thanks, Gavin.

[Gavin Bade]

Thanks, Alex.

[Alex Osila]

It's been a volatile day for US Markets. Major stock indexes initially climbed after the Supreme Court decision was announced, fell ahead of Trump's press conference, then recovered ground after he announced plans for new trade duties. In the end, stocks finished the day near session highs among the indexes. The Nasdaq led the gains, adding 0.9%. New data out from the Commerce Department today show an economy with slowing growth and rising inflation. US Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced across the economy, rose at a 1.4% annual rate in the final quarter of last year. That was much weaker than what the Atlanta Fed had modeled, which we noted in this morning's show, and was a sharp slowdown from the 4.4% growth in the previous quarter. And the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge showed that inflation rose at the end of last year. The personal Consumption expenditures price index increased by 0.4% in December, higher than November's 0.2% rise and roughly in line with analysts forecasts. The data underscores why many Fed officials have turned cautious about supporting further interest rate cuts. Heads up that we dropped a special bonus episode earlier today in the latest what's News and Earnings. We look at what the earnings reports of some of the country's biggest homebuilders tell us about the health of the US Housing market. That's in your what's News feed now. Coming up, could Trump's aggressive immigration policies cost Republicans the midterms? One GOP representative thinks so. That's after the break. Hi, this is Alex Osila, host of the WSJ's what's News podcast. We bring you the biggest news of the day, from business, business and finance to global and political developments that move markets. If you're looking for more insights and tools to understand the latest headlines, consider becoming a subscriber to the Wall street journal. Visit subscribe.WSJ.com whatsnews to subscribe now. We're exclusively reporting that as many as 20,000 people are now at large in Syria after an exodus from a camp that held jihadist families. That's according to U.S. officials familiar with an estimate from U.S. intelligence agencies. Security experts have long warned that the wives of Islamic State fighters were effectively raising the next generation of militants at the Al Hol facility. Security at the camp fell apart in recent weeks after Syria's government defeated the US Backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which had guarded Al Hol for years. The Syrian government has acknowledged that many people left the camp for other parts of the country and says it plans to monitor any extremists and reintegrate them into society. Foreign. There are few Republicans criticizing the White House's approach to immigration enforcement, but one of them represents one of the country's most Hispanic districts. Florida Representative Maria Elvira Salazar recently told the Wall Street Journal she's seen the fallout from Trump's hardline deportation policies play out in her own district, and she's worried it might cost her party the midterms. Journal political reporter Sabrina Rodriguez recently sat down with Salazar in Washington and is here to tell us more. Sabrina, what is Salazar's background? How did she get to Congress?

[Sabrina Rodriguez]

So Salazar is a product of the community that she's representing. She's Cuban American Republican, and for decades she was a Spanish language broadcast journalist. She was a big household name for folks in her district. And it was in 2018 that she launched her first bid to be a congresswoman. She lost that race, but when she ran in 20, she won and has really made inroads in the community since then.

[Alex Osila]

As I mentioned, Salazar says she's worried that the Trump administration's approach to immigration could cost their party the midterms. What's her basis for thinking that?

[Sabrina Rodriguez]

She is still a big supporter of the president, but she's very concerned because of the way that the deportations are being carried out. She felt that his promise was he'd focus on criminals. And she's seeing in her community and across the country the way that this administration is focusing on all people who are in the country illegally and not just people who, who have necessarily committed crimes in the country. And just seeing folks in the community who are starting to get turned off to the president and turned off to the party because of what they're seeing.

[Alex Osila]

So Salazar has introduced a bill called the Dignity act that would effectively result in immigration reform. What's in it?

[Sabrina Rodriguez]

So she has a piece of legislation that's bipartisan. It has, you know, over 35 co sponsors, has been embraced by a lot of business groups. And so her bill is sort of this middle ground where she would offer a form of legal status for people in the country illegally, but would also not be offering them a pathway to citizenship necessarily. When I sat down with her last week, she got into the specifics of what this bill, the Dignity act, looks

[Maria Elvira Salazar]

like you are not going to be American. I am not going to give you any federal programs. I am not going to allow you to use our health care system. You have to pay for your crimes. You have to pay a fine. You have to give me 1% of your salary. And then I'm going to give you the dignity status. It's not amnesty. It's dignity.

[Alex Osila]

How's her bill going over in Congress?

[Sabrina Rodriguez]

So far right now, there hasn't been that much traction for it. Her belief, as she says it, is that if she could get the president on board and the White House on board, Congress would follow, especially as polls show that he's losing ground on this issue, which is one of the ones that helped bolster his candidacy in 2024. That's something that the congresswoman and I talked about. In recent election cycles. We've seen Republicans make inroads with the Hispanic community, and she's eager to see the party continue in that tradition.

[Maria Elvira Salazar]

One out of two, 55% of Hispanic males voted for Trump. And now they're disillusioned because we cannot conflate the gangster with the, with the gardener or the nanny with an arco or the construction worker with a coyote. You cannot do that. And unfortunately, that happened. So now we have to course correct and send the right message that the Hispanics are welcomed once again in the gop.

[Sabrina Rodriguez]

She talks about the fact that in her conversations with other Republicans, there is an acknowledgement about the need to address this. She feels like the time is coming where they're gonna have to accept that there needs to be a middle ground on this issue.

[Alex Osila]

That was Journal reporter Sabrina Rodriguez. Thanks, Sabrina.

[Sabrina Rodriguez]

Thank you.

[Alex Osila]

And that's what's news for this week. Tomorrow you can look out for our weekly markets wrap up what's news in Markets. Then on Sunday, we'll be discussing a growing trend of countries looking to build their own digital technologies to reduce their dependence on the US Private sector. That's in what's New Sunday. And we'll be back with our regular show on Monday morning. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname with supervising producer Jana Herron. Michael Lavall wrote our theme music. Aisha El Mooselib is our development producer. Chris Zinsley is our deputy editor. And Falana Patterson is the Wall Street Journal's head of news audio. I'm Alex Osola. Thanks for listening. Hey.

[Telus Demos]

This is Telus Demos.

[Miriam Gottfried]

And I'm Miriam Gottfried. We're reporters at the Wall Street Journal and The hosts of WSJ's take on the Week and it's a weekly show that gives listeners a leg up in the world of markets and investing.

[Telus Demos]

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