The Trump administration rolled out tariffs as high as 12.5% on 60 trading partners Thursday, ensuring uninterrupted duties just as a temporary tariff program expired. The new levies take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Friday, closing a window that threatened to leave the White House without legal authority to maintain its tariff regime.
The move capped one of the most active weeks for the administration's trade agenda in months. Fresh tariffs on Brazil, renewed threats against Canada, and this broader new tariff authority all landed within days of each other, signaling aggressive momentum on the trade front.
At the core of the new tariffs sits a Section 301 investigation from the Trade Act of 1974, launched by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in March. The investigation examined whether 60 trading partners had failed to block goods made with forced labor. By June, the USTR concluded such practices unfairly burden U.S. commerce, clearing the path for tariffs to follow.
Nations that have adopted forced labor bans but aren't enforcing them effectively face a 10% rate. Other countries' goods will be hit with 12.5% duties. The administration highlighted that India earned the lower rate after adopting new measures prohibiting forced labor trade since June, positioning this as proof that countries can negotiate better terms by changing course.
Oil, gas, certain fertilizers, and some food products landed on an exemption list, reflecting administration concerns about broader economic disruption.
The legal scramble behind the tariffs
This round of tariffs reveals a far messier reality than a simple policy announcement. The administration has spent months hunting for legal ground solid enough to withstand court challenges and survive procedurally.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court gutted the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as a tariff tool, ruling it does not authorize the president to impose import duties. That ruling stripped away what the White House had been using as an on-off switch, allowing rapid announcements, suspensions, or modifications of tariffs almost overnight.
Desperate for an alternative, the administration then pivoted to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a rarely invoked provision allowing across-the-board tariffs up to 15% for no more than 150 days to address balance-of-payments problems. Those 10% tariffs were set to expire Friday with no path to renewal without congressional approval.
Section 301, by contrast, moves slower. It requires a formal investigation, public comment periods, and an official finding before tariffs can take hold. Yet it offers the durability the administration now desperately needs.
In the span of a single week, the White House has reshuffled the legal foundation of its entire tariff regime. What emerges is a trade strategy now as much about navigating courts and statutes as it is about economic leverage.
The administration is still investigating whether to impose tariffs over what it calls excess manufacturing issues, suggesting higher duties could arrive in coming weeks.
Author James Rodriguez: "The legal gymnastics here matter as much as the tariff percentages, because without solid statutory ground, every duty faces the risk of judicial reversal."
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