With the blanket 10% US tariff on global imports due to expire tomorrow, American trade is approaching another period of uncertainty.

Following February’s Supreme Court decision to overturn the IEEPA tariffs, the Trump administration responded immediately by introducing the 10% import surcharge under Section 122 of the Trade Act.

However, Section 122 measures can only remain in place for 150 days without Congressional approval. The current surcharge is therefore due to expire at 12:01am US Eastern Time tomorrow, July 24th.

The Trump administration is now working at pace to introduce new tariffs through other legal authorities that do not require Congressional approval, including Sections 232, 301 and 338. The apparent strategy is to replace the legally vulnerable blanket tariff with a series of more targeted and defensible measures.

President Trump has already introduced a 25% tariff on many Brazilian imports, which came into effect this week under Section 301. He has also announced a 50% tariff on selected Canadian products under Section 338, due to take effect next month.

China is another country widely expected to be targeted under the revised tariff strategy, while both the European Union and the UK could face measures introduced under Sections 232, 301 or 338, relating to national security, manufacturing practices or trade discrimination.

As ever, the world awaits the next instalment. Unique Forwarding continues to monitor developments closely.