Washington, United States. President Donald Trump moved to replace tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court by ordering a temporary 10% global import duty for 150 days and directing new investigations that could allow tariffs to be re-imposed under other laws.
Executive orders and start date
Trump signed executive orders late Friday to impose new tariffs starting Tuesday under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The move partly replaces tariffs of 10% to 50% imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act that the Supreme Court declared illegal, and it ends collection of the now-banned duties.
Exemptions carried over
The orders continued existing exemptions for aerospace products; passenger cars and some light trucks; goods from Mexico and Canada that are compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement; pharmaceuticals; and certain critical minerals and agricultural products.
Administration comments on revenue and leverage
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the new 10% duties and potentially enhanced tariffs under the Section 301 unfair practices statute and the Section 232 national security statute would result in virtually unchanged tariff revenue in 2026.
“We will get back to the same tariff level for the countries. It will just be in a less direct and slightly more convoluted manner,” Bessent told Fox News, adding that the Supreme Court decision had reduced Trump’s negotiating leverage with trading partners.
Section 122 authority and justification
Section 122, which has never been used, allows the president to impose duties of up to 15% for up to 150 days on any and all countries to address “large and serious” balance of payments issues. It does not require investigations or impose other procedural limits, and Congress would need to approve any extension beyond 150 days.
The 10% tariff order justified use of Section 122 by citing a “large and serious balance of payments deficit” and said the situation was worsening.
Legal outlook and additional investigations
Josh Lipsky, international economics chair at the Atlantic Council, said the administration would likely face legal challenges but that the Section 122 tariffs would lapse before any final ruling could be made.
Trump said his administration was also initiating several new country-specific investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 “to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies.”
How do you expect the temporary 10% global import duty to affect U.S. trade negotiations over the next 150 days?
