President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation to impose a 10% surcharge on imports entering the U.S. after the Supreme Court struck down global levies he previously imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The surcharge will go into effect Feb. 24 and remain in place until July 24 unless it is extended by an act of Congress in accordance with Section 122. The statute, which Trump is using to impose the surcharge, allows a president to impose an up to 15% levy for up to 150 days.
Trump provided exemptions for a range of goods due to “the needs of the U.S. economy,” including critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, passenger vehicles, certain medium and heavy-duty trucks, certain electronics, aerospace parts and agricultural products such as beef, tomatoes and oranges.
Additionally, the surcharge does not apply to products compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and textile and apparel imports covered by the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement.
The surcharge will also not stack upon existing sector-specific Section 232 tariffs, according to the proclamation.
Earlier Friday, Trump told reporters at a White House news conference he would impose a 10% “across the board” tariff under Section 122 that would remain in effect for five months, during which the administration would conduct various investigations necessary to put “fair tariffs or tariffs period on other countries.”
“So we’re doing that period, but we’re immediately instituting the 10% provision, which we’re allowed to do,” Trump said. “And in the end, I think we’ll take in more money than we’ve taken in before.”
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement Friday that the U.S. would be initiating Section 301 investigations into the practices of “many trading partners” on “an accelerated timeframe.”
In Friday’s press conference, Trump cited Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s dissent in the 6-3 decision handed down Friday. Kavanaugh argued that Congress deliberately wrote the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in sweeping, flexible terms to give the president the authority to impose tariffs as a tool of economic pressure.
“IEEPA gives the President economic tools to address significant foreign threats,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Kavanaugh stressed that even if IEEPA did not authorize Trump’s tariffs, the president still had other statutory tools to install levies, including Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974. Section 232 allows presidents to raise duties to address national security threats and Section 201 allows them to respond to unfair trade practices by other countries.
“In essence, the Court today concludes that the President checked the wrong statutory box by relying on IEEPA rather than another statute to impose these tariffs,” Kavanaugh said in his dissent.
During the news conference, Trump listed the tariff authorities named by Kavanaugh, as well as others, acknowledging they require “a little bit longer process” than what he tried under IEEPA.
Before Friday’s ruling, the Trump administration had already used Section 232 to implement a slew of sector-specific duties on goods such as steel, automobiles and furniture. The administration has also codified duties using other statutes, albeit with less broad reach than its use of IEEPA.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include details from a proclamation President Donald Trump signed Friday.
