America in Brief

US Raises Tariffs to 15 Percent

The United States has raised its new global tariff from 10 percent to 15 percent after a ruling from the nation’s highest court rejected President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency law to impose his reciprocal tariffs.

On Feb. 20, the Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs imposed in 2025 by Trump under the justification of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act exceeded the authority given to him by Congress.

In response, Trump imposed new global tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which gives the president authority to impose temporary tariffs to address balance-of-payments deficits.

It allows the president to charge tariffs of up to 15 percent on countries that carry a large surplus with the United States for up to 150 days without congressional approval.

Trump initially announced a 10 percent tariff following the ruling, then raised the levy to 15.

The U.S. president maintains that for years, many countries have carried an unfair imbalance in trade against the United States.

Trump Orders Declassification of Files on Aliens

Trump ordered the release of all government files on alien, extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs) on Feb. 19 in a Truth Social post.

The declassification was in response to a comment former President Barack Obama made in a podcast interview on Feb. 14, when he was asked if aliens were real.

“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them—and they’re not being kept in [Area 51]. There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”

On Feb. 19, Trump responded to a press question about Obama’s answer, and accused Obama of disclosing “classified information.”

US Protects Production of Glyphosate

President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act on Feb. 18, protecting the domestic production of controversial phosphorus and glyphosate-based weedkillers.

Critics of the weedkillers say this latest move protects chemical manufacturers from legal scrutiny.

On Feb. 17, a German-based agrochemical company, Bayer, said that its subsidiary, Monsanto, had submitted a $7.25 billion class-action settlement to address thousands of cancer lawsuits over its weedkiller product, Roundup.

The lawsuits claim that Roundup, whose active ingredient is glyphosate, causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other cancers.

Trump declared that shortages of phosphorus and glyphosate create a risk to national security.

Glyphosate is the most used herbicide in history, according to the Global Glyphosate Study, with 1.6 billion kilograms being sprayed across the United States since 1974.

Power Company to Pay Wildfire Settlement

A major power company has agreed to pay $575 million to resolve damage claims from a series of wildfires in California and Oregon.

The Department of Justice had accused PacifiCorp, one of the largest grid operators in the Western United States, of negligently starting six wildfires.

Five of the wildfires began in early September 2020, with one fire alone in California burning a total of 157,229 acres and the others burning a total of 93,196 acres in Oregon.

The sixth wildfire began in July 2022 and burned 39,000 acres of land in California.