U.S. tariff reboot
The White House is preparing to rebuild Trump‑era tariffs on a different statutory footing, and officials said broad tariffs could return as early as July. (foxnews.com) Several large firms — including Delta, Dell, Caterpillar, Ford and Jockey — have publicly opposed a fresh Section 301 push, and the administration is opening a digital refund portal on April 20 for importers to file claims for duties previously collected. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) (cep-research.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
The Trump administration is rebuilding its broad tariff program under Section 301 after the Supreme Court said the emergency-powers law it used before does not authorize tariffs. (supreme.justia.com) (bloomberg.com) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on April 14 that tariff rates could return to their previous levels by “the beginning of July.” He tied that timetable to new Section 301 investigations now underway at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. (bloomberg.com) (ustr.gov) Section 301 is the trade law the U.S. uses to investigate what it calls unfair foreign practices before imposing duties. Unlike the emergency law the court rejected, it requires a formal notice process, public comments and hearings. (ustr.gov) (federalregister.gov) U.S. Trade Representative notices published in March opened two multi-country Section 301 cases: one on structural excess manufacturing capacity and one on foreign failures to block goods made with forced labor. The notices seek comments and set public hearings as the administration builds a new legal record for tariffs. (federalregister.gov) (ustr.gov) Large U.S. companies are already pushing back. Delta, Dell, Caterpillar, Ford and Jockey have opposed a fresh Section 301 tariff push, arguing new duties would raise their costs and make it harder to compete. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) At the same time, Customs and Border Protection is opening a separate track for money going the other direction. On April 20, the agency will launch the first phase of CAPE, a refund tool inside the Automated Commercial Environment portal, for claims tied to duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. (cbp.gov) (content.govdelivery.com) CBP said importers of record and authorized brokers will file refund requests through ACE, and Phase 1 goes live at 8:00 a.m. Eastern on April 20. Law firms tracking the rollout said accepted claims are expected to be paid in roughly 60 to 90 days. (content.govdelivery.com) (cbh.com) That leaves importers in two systems at once: one to reclaim duties the court-invalidated program collected, and another to prepare for a new round of tariffs built through a slower trade-law process. The next hard dates are April 20 for refund filings and late April hearings as the Section 301 cases move forward. (cbp.gov) (federalregister.gov)
