Q COSTARICA — This week, on Tuesday, tariffs on Costa Rican products exported to the United States went back into effect, as confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Comex).
The good news is that the tariff will no longer be 15%, as it was for months, but only 10%.
These new tariffs were established by Donald Trump, President of the United States, using Section 122 of the Trade Act, which allows the president to impose them for up to 150 days to address “large and serious” balance of payments deficits and “fundamental international payments problems.”
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the tariff policy implemented by President Trump, eliminating tariffs imposed on various countries, including the 15% tariff that had been established for Costa Rica.
The justices considered that this policy granted the President of the United States virtually unlimited power to define the country’s trade policy, which is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution.
However, the country’s leader found another legal instrument to reactivate them, but this time he only imposed a 10% tax.