Tariffs could return by July

Scott Bessent said the Trump administration could restore tariff rates to earlier levels by the beginning of July after a Supreme Court ruling knocked out its main legal tool. (finance.yahoo.com) Bessent said on April 14, 2026, at a Wall Street Journal event in Washington that the administration would use Section 301 investigations to rebuild the tariff program. The Supreme Court had ruled on February 20 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not let a president impose broad tariffs. (finance.yahoo.com) (scotusblog.com) Tariffs are taxes paid by importers at the border, and presidents need a statute to impose them. The court’s decision wiped out the 2025 emergency-based tariffs, but it did not touch tariffs imposed under other laws such as Section 232 for national security or Section 301 for unfair trade practices. (scotusblog.com) (www.seyfarth.com) The administration moved within hours of the ruling to a temporary fallback. A White House proclamation imposed a 10 percent import duty for 150 days starting February 24, which means that measure is set to run until July 24 unless Congress extends it. (www.whitehouse.gov) (www.federalregister.gov) Section 301 is slower, but it can support longer-lasting tariffs after an investigation and public comment process. The Office of the United States Trade Representative opened a new Section 301 case on March 11 into “structural excess capacity” in manufacturing, and the notice covers 16 economies including China, the European Union, Japan, India and Mexico. (ustr.gov) (www.federalregister.gov) That is why July matters. If the administration wants a new legal basis in place before the temporary 10 percent surcharge expires on July 24, the Section 301 work has to move fast enough to support new duties around the same time. (finance.yahoo.com) (www.federalregister.gov) Some tariffs never went away. Steel, aluminum and copper duties under Section 232 remained in force after the Supreme Court decision, and Trump broadened them again in an April 2 proclamation that took effect April 6. (www.seyfarth.com) (content.govdelivery.com) Customs and Border Protection said the April 2 action applies additional duties of 10 percent to 50 percent on certain steel, aluminum and copper imports and derivative products from all countries. The White House said the revised Section 232 program now covers steel, aluminum and copper under the same national-security framework. (content.govdelivery.com) (www.whitehouse.gov) The next fight is already in court. A three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade heard arguments on April 10 over the legality of the newer 10 percent global tariff that replaced the broader emergency tariffs. (www.politico.com) (www.pbs.org) So the July deadline is less a switch being flipped than a race between statutes, hearings and court orders. Bessent’s message was that the administration thinks it can rebuild much of the tariff wall on a different legal foundation before the temporary bridge runs out. (finance.yahoo.com)