Trump advisors explore options if SC upholds lower courts ruling on tariffs

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Even if the justices end up letting the appellate court’s opinion stand, Trump has a series of options for pursuing tariffs through a series of laws in which Congress has delegated its constitutional power to levy tariffs to the president.

The one that has received the most attention is Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which empowers the president to adjust duties on specific goods “so that such imports will not so threaten to impair the national security” after an administration investigation of trade practices. Many of Trump’s current and pending tariffs, on items like steel, aluminum and cars, fall under Section 232 and would not be directly affected by an adverse ruling on his use of IEEPA.

Another one, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, gives the U.S. trade representative authority to probe whether U.S. rights are being denied under any trade pact and, at the direction of the president, take lawful actions to rectify that. With the president’s tariff powers in question, it is not clear how Section 301 could, or would, be used to implement tariffs.

Neither of those laws provides for the kind of expedited, wave-of-the-hand tariff authority that Trump sought through IEEPA, and each comes with its own drawbacks — legal and logistical — as Trump tries to use the force of duties to give America a stronger hand in international trade.

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