Under President Trump, tariffs continue to change.
The latest change came this week after a federal trade court ruled that the current centerpiece of his trade strategy — a 10 percent tax on most imports from around the world — exceeded the president’s authority under the law.
For now, that general duty remains in effect and an appeal is being initiated. Still, the legal battle, which is far from over, adds to the uncertainty that has plagued businesses and consumers during Trump’s global trade war.
Determining which tariffs apply (or don’t) currently apply has generally been reduced to tracking the status of a handful of high-risk lawsuits.
Many of the president’s tariffs — the sky-high rates he first imposed on what became known as “Liberation Day” last year — were struck down by the Supreme Court in February. The administration has begun working to repay the money collected under those duties, which amounts to about $166 billion, and the first checks are expected to arrive on Monday.
This set of tariffs includes the country-by-country tariffs that Trump first announced to combat illicit drug sales, as well as those he imposed on a “reciprocal” basis in response to what he described as persistent trade imbalances.
Other tariffs imposed by Trump are more legally established, but have increased or decreased with some frequency as the White House has sought to achieve its economic goals, or lessen the consequences of the president’s policies. These include tariffs the president placed on products like cars and steel for national security reasons, using a legal provision known as Section 232.
However, there is still a lot of uncertainty about Trump’s next steps, and his tariffs are expected to change considerably (again) in the coming months. Using another set of authorities, known as Section 301, the administration has opened investigations into the business practices of dozens of countries. Trump’s goal is to revive the type of tariffs that were in place before the Supreme Court ruled against them.
At the same time, Trump has continued to launch new tariff threats against countries, including those in Europe, while broadly promising to double down on his strategy even in the face of judicial setbacks.
“We always do it a different way,” Trump said this week when asked about his latest loss. “We receive a decision and we do it differently.”
