Trump pursues fresh import taxes

President Donald Trump’s administration opened hearings this week to build a new legal basis for tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency import taxes in February. (ustr.gov) (pbs.org) The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is holding April 28 and April 29 hearings on whether 60 economies failed to effectively block goods made with forced labor. The hearings are at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington and start at 10 a.m. Eastern. (ustr.gov) A second Section 301 case is aimed at 16 trading partners, including China, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, India and South Korea, over industrial overcapacity and other policies the administration says hurt U.S. manufacturers. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in March the administration was seeking tools that could replace the revenue lost after the court ruling. (pbs.org) (usnews.com) The Supreme Court’s February decision knocked out tariffs Trump had imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the law he used to declare an economic emergency and tax imports. His replacement tariffs rely in part on Section 122, a rarely used authority that gives a president short-term power to address a balance-of-payments problem. (politico.com) Those Section 122 tariffs are temporary. Associated Press reported they expire in less than three months, which has pushed the administration to move quickly on the Section 301 cases now on the calendar. (usnews.com) The new tariffs are already facing another court fight. Politico reported that Democratic attorneys general and governors from 24 states, joined by a libertarian group representing two small businesses, asked the Court of International Trade to strike down the 10% tariffs Trump imposed on most trading partners in February. (politico.com) The refund fight is moving in parallel. General Motors said this week it expects about $500 million back after the Supreme Court ruling, and it raised its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance by the same amount. (cnbc.com) (theguardian.com) GM said the refund does not end its tariff exposure. The automaker still expects $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion in gross tariff costs this year from other levies, even after cutting its earlier estimate. (cnbc.com) Small businesses say the stop-start policy has made ordering and pricing harder. Brookline shop owners told Brookline.News that they have had to rethink sourcing and absorb cost swings as tariff rules changed and court cases piled up. (brookline.news) The next test is whether Trump’s trade team can turn these investigations into sturdier tariffs before the temporary taxes run out and before judges weigh the latest challenges. (ustr.gov) (politico.com)