Trump revives tariffs via import taxes

President Donald Trump is rebuilding his tariff policy through new trade cases after the Supreme Court struck down his broad emergency import taxes in February. (usnews.com) (cbsnews.com) The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened public hearings on April 28 and April 29 into whether 60 economies failed to block imports made with forced labor. Those hearings began at 10 a.m. at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. (ustr.gov) (federalregister.gov) A second set of Section 301 hearings is scheduled for May 5 through May 8 on 16 trading partners, including China, the European Union, Japan, India and Mexico. The cases focus on what U.S. officials call structural excess capacity and overproduction in manufacturing. (ustr.gov) (federalregister.gov) Section 301 is an older trade law that lets the president impose tariffs after an investigation into foreign practices. That route is slower than Trump’s emergency tariffs, but it rests on a clearer statute and is expected to be harder to knock out in court. (usnews.com) (federalregister.gov) The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on February 20 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize tariffs. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Congress did not clearly give presidents power to impose duties of “unlimited amount and duration” under that law. (cbsnews.com) (taxfoundation.org) Trump answered that loss by proposing a new 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, and later raising it to 15%, according to Associated Press reporting. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said existing trade deals would stay in place while the administration pursued other tariff tools. (newsnationnow.com) (apnews.com) The numbers explain why the White House is trying to rebuild the system fast. The Tax Foundation estimated the invalidated IEEPA tariffs had already raised more than $160 billion by February 20 and would have raised $1.4 trillion from 2026 through 2035. (taxfoundation.org) Other Trump tariffs never disappeared. The Tax Policy Center said in April that average U.S. tariff rates still sat around 10%, and that tariffs announced through late 2025 would impose an average 2026 burden of about $1,050 per household. (taxpolicycenter.org) (taxfoundation.org) Foreign governments are still trying to gauge how much of Trump’s trade agenda survives the court defeat. China’s Commerce Ministry said it was assessing the ruling, while South Korea’s trade minister warned that fresh tariffs under other laws could deepen uncertainty for exporters. (newsnationnow.com) The immediate question is no longer whether Trump will keep using tariffs. It is which legal channel he uses next, and how long importers, exporters and consumers keep paying while the cases move. (usnews.com) (taxfoundation.org)