President Donald Trump may look to ramp up his use of sections 232 and 301 should the Supreme Court rule that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act can't be used for levying tariffs, various lawyers told us. However, the expanded use of these statutes, both as they are being used now and how they may be used to supplant the existing reciprocal and fentanyl trafficking tariffs, may encounter legal difficulties.
The U.S. is eliminating 15% tariffs on Ecuadoran bananas and cocoa, and 10% tariffs on Guatemalan coffee and Argentinian beef, as the three countries have reached framework agreements on reciprocal trade.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Oct. 27 - Nov. 2 and Nov. 3-9:
As customs brokers and importers respond to sudden changes in U.S. trade compliance regulations, the trade will need to come up with new models that can allow companies to be nimble when those changes trickle down to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, trade expert Cindy Allen said recently at the Automotive Industry Action Group's North American Customs and Trade Town Hall on Nov. 6 in Detroit.
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 may be a more limited "fall-back option" for the Trump administration should the Supreme Court strike down all the tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Dr. Mona Paulsen, law professor at the London School of Economic Law School, wrote in a blog post.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
There are probably five justices who will find that the reciprocal tariffs were not permissible under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act that the president used to impose them, according to Georgetown University Law Center Professor Marty Lederman. Lederman, a senior fellow in the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown, was one of two guests on the weekly Washington International Trade Association podcast that aired Nov. 7.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is soliciting comments on the one-year suspension of ship docking fees and logistics-related tariffs, such as on chassis from China. The fees and tariffs are in abeyance until Nov. 10, 2026.
NEW YORK -- Although the president's obsession with domestic manufacturing doesn't extend to apparel, there are no signs the administration will adjust tariff policy to make clothing imports more affordable, or even adjust rules of origin to privilege nearshoring, an old Washington hand told the U.S. Fashion Industry Association annual conference audience.
President Donald Trump won't attend the oral arguments at the Supreme Court over the legality of his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to levy tariffs on countries around the world, he announced Nov. 2.