WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Friday afternoon that he would impose a new 10% tariff on most foreign imports — after the Supreme Court ruled that same baseline rate could not be imposed using emergency powers.
“Today, I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged,” Trump said at a hastily arranged press conference.
“And we’re also initiating several Section 301 and other investigations to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies.”
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows Trump to unilaterally impose up to 15% tariffs to remedy balance-of-payments issues or prevent “imminent and significant” depreciation of the dollar.
Those tariffs can only be in place for up to five months without congressional approval. Trump’s announcement marked the first time it has been invoked.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 earlier Friday that Trump exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), which allows presidents to regulate commerce during national emergencies, to bring in tariffs to address trade imbalances and fentanyl smuggling.
The ruling knocked down Trump’s 10% baseline tariff on most countries and higher rates imposed on nations with which the US has trade deficits, as well as the fentanyl-specific tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, appearing alongside Trump, said “we have a lot of tools out there” to replace the duties the court struck down.
Section 301 of the 1974 law allows Greer to impose tariffs on countries with economic policies that are discriminatory against the US or in violation of trade agreements. These duties expire after four years unless a continuation is sought.
The USTR is obligated to first conduct an investigation, which includes consulting with the foreign government and soliciting public comment.
Greer said Section 301 tariffs “are incredibly legally durable” and would be used to “investigate and address unfair trading practices that have led to our huge trade deficit.
“So you can look forward in the coming days and weeks to seeing all of that come out, and we’re going to keep continuity in the program,” Greer said.
Other options available to the administration, but not cited at the press conference, include Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows tariffs to regulate imports on national security grounds following investigations by the Commerce Department, though duties are meant to apply only to individual economic sectors rather than entire countries; and Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% if he finds “as a fact” that countries have imposed unreasonable charges, restrictions or otherwise discriminated against US imports.
Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, another option, allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% above existing tariff rates on products that threaten “serious injury” to US manufacturers following an investigation by the US International Trade Commission.
Most major trading partners negotiated pending trade deals with Trump last year to reduce his threat of even higher tariffs — and the president said he expects many of those pacts to remain intact.
“Some of them stand. Many of them stand. Some of them won’t, and they’ll be replaced,” Trump told reporters.
Trump said that he had just met with Vietnamese officials who told him they thought the ruling “means you’re allowed to charge us more tariffs than before.”
Many of Trump’s duties were not impacted by the Supreme Court ruling, including 50% tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper.
Trump’s 25% tariffs on most foreign-made vehicles also was adopted under a different legal authority and remains in effect.
The car levies give Trump leverage to keep intact major pending trade deals due to the fact that he subsequently agreed to lower the vehicle tariff to 15% for Japan, South Korea, and the European Union — and 10% on shipments from the UK.
The Supreme Court ruling sets in motion the anticipated return of $175 billion in tariff revenue collected over the past year — a process that dissenting Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted would be a “mess.”
Trump tore into the six justices who ruled against him as “unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution,” but admitted the decision brings a level of “certainty” to his economic policy.
“I think you’re going to see the country get much stronger because of it.”
