Trump Halts Additional Tariffs Following Supreme Court Ruling

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that halted the collection of ad valorem additional duties imposed through a number of previous executive orders related to national security, trade imbalances, and foreign threats.

"In light of the latest developments, the ad valorem additional duty imposed under IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) is no longer in effect and, as soon as possible, will no longer be collected," the White House said in a statement quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Saturday, February 21.

The executive order was issued after the US Supreme Court overturned most of the tariffs imposed by Trump.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court said Trump overstepped his authority when he imposed sweeping tariffs using a law intended for national emergencies.

Based on the order, all relevant ministries and agencies are requested to immediately take steps to stop the collection of additional duties, with adjustments to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of Customs Tariff List (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) carried out as needed.

The order also confirmed that other trade measures that had recently been implemented, including temporary import duties on February 20 and the suspension of de minimis duty-free treatment, remained in effect.

The White House emphasized that the policy was only ending certain ad valorem additional duties under IEEPA and did not change tariffs imposed under other trade authorities, including Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Act and Article 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Ad valorem is a Latin term meaning "according to value". In the context of taxation and import duties, ad valorem refers to a type of tax or tariff calculated on the basis of a percentage of the value of goods or transactions, rather than on a fixed amount per unit.

The term ad valorem is usually used to describe import tariffs or additional duties calculated based on the value of goods. For example, if a country imposes an ad valorem import duty of 10 percent on imported goods worth 1,000 US dollars, the duty to be paid is 100 US dollars. If the value of the goods increases, the amount of the duty also increases because it is calculated from the percentage of the value.

Meanwhile, the understanding of duty-free de minimis is a provision that exempts imported goods from import duties if their value is below a certain minimum limit.

The term de minimis comes from Latin meaning "very small things". In the context of customs, the de minimis rule sets a threshold for the value of shipments that are considered too small to be subject to import duties.

For example, if a country sets a de minimis limit of 100 US dollars, then imported goods with a value below that figure are not subject to import duties. If the value exceeds that limit, then it will be subject to tariffs according to the provisions.