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Since his first term, President Trump has used tariff policy as a multipurpose tool for raising revenue, protecting domestic industry from import competition, and gaining leverage in negotiations with allies and strategic competitors.
In his first administration, the president relied on tools like Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (product-specific tariffs to safeguard national security) and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (country-specific tariffs to address unreasonable or discriminatory practices that burden U.S. commerce). These approaches cover steel, aluminum, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals, along with most imports from China.
In this administration, the president is reaching for broader tariffs. Here’s a quick overview of the evolving approach and how court rulings are shaping the agenda:
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) authorizes the president to declare emergencies and address threats to the security or economy of the United States. President Trump invoked IEEPA in April 2025 to impose “reciprocal tariffs,” which included both a baseline 10% global rate and higher rates for certain countries. The Supreme Court, however, struck down the reciprocal tariffs in February 2026, holding that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
Within hours of the Supreme Court’s decision on the IEEPA tariffs, President Trump announced new global 10% tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Section 122 empowers the president to impose tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days to address balance-of-payments problems. In May, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the tariffs exceeded the president’s authority because economic data do not reveal a balance-of-payments issue. The Section 122 tariffs expired Friday, July 24.
As the clock on Section 122 was winding down, the administration announced new actions. On July 20, President Trump announced 50% tariffs on certain Canadian products under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which authorizes duties on countries that the U.S. International Trade Commission finds discriminate against U.S. commerce.
The administration also issued new tariffs under the familiar Section 301 authority. These include a 25% tariff on certain products from Brazil announced July 15th, citing a range of unfair practices like market access limits, illegal deforestation, and intellectual property protection. Then on July 23rd, the administration announced additional Section 301 tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on 60 economies for failing to enact and enforce prohibitions on forced labor.
We’re tracking a separate Section 301 investigation of 16 countries related to excess capacity. The administration cited “lax or inadequate” environmental standards as contributing to excess capacity, raising the intriguing possibility that new tariffs could be based in part on the emissions intensity of imported products.
It is unclear how durable this latest round of 338 and 301 tariffs will be. New legal challenges are already filed, and the administration may intend some tariffs as short-run negotiating tactics.
What is clear: the administration will continue pursuing tariffs and will reshape our sense of presidential authority over trade policy for years to come.
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