After US Supreme Court’s blow to President Donald Trump’s tariff playbook last week, America is now gearing up for a new round of national security investigations that could open the gate for new duties. According to a person familiar with internal discussions cited by Bloomberg, the administration is planning probes into how imports affect several sectors, including batteries, cast iron and iron fittings, electrical grid equipment, telecom equipment, plastics and plastic piping, and industrial chemicals.
The proposed inquiries would be conducted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a provision that allows tariffs to be imposed on national security grounds.
This comes after Trump has already announced new a global tariff after the court’s decision to scrap his earlier duties. Officials said that a 10% levy would take effect from Tuesday morning, although Trump later threatened to push up the rate to 15%.
The president is expected to be able to keep those tariffs in place for only five months. Trump has indicated he intends to use that period to prepare alternative import taxes that could collectively make up for the duties invalidated by the courts.
Measures taken under Section 232 are widely considered more legally sustainable, and Trump has already used the authority in his second term to impose tariffs on metals and automobiles.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer said last week that the administration is also considering investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which targets discriminatory practices by trading partners, as part of efforts to rebuild the tariff framework.
Greer said the expected probes would cover “most major trading partners” and focus on “areas of concern such as industrial excess capacity, forced labor, pharmaceutical pricing practices, discrimination against U.S. technology companies and digital goods and services, digital services taxes, ocean pollution, and practices related to the trade in seafood, rice, and other products.”
Earlier on Monday, Trump warned that countries attempting to take advantage of the Supreme Court ruling could face steeper tariffs.
He said, “any Country that wants to ‘play games’ with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have ‘Ripped Off’ the USA for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to. BUYER BEWARE!!!” Trump posted on social media.
Officials have been working quickly on replacement tariff measures in an effort to keep trade agreements intact after the court decision limited Trump’s ability to set duties using emergency powers.
The European Union on Monday suspended the ratification process for its agreement with Washington. Members of the European Parliament said they want clarity on the administration’s tariff strategy before proceeding.
China, Japan, South Korea and the UK are among other major trading partners that have struck trade deals with the United States. The White House did not immediately respond to questions on whether Trump’s social media warning was directed at the EU.
Trump’s latest comments signal he intends to press ahead with plans to impose broad tariffs on goods entering the US market, even as the court ruling narrows his room for manoeuvre. “As President, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of Tariffs,” Trump wrote in a subsequent post.
