A federal tariff struck down by a U.S. trade court is set to expire on July 24, even as the Trump administration presses ahead with new import taxes under a different legal authority. The 10% global tariff, imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, took effect on February 24 and is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 24, the maximum 150 days allowed under the law without an act of Congress.

New Tariff Takes Effect

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office imposed a 25% tariff on nearly all imports from Brazil under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a different legal authority with no built-in expiration date. This tariff, unrelated to the balance-of-payments dispute, followed a yearlong investigation into Brazilian trade practices, including digital payment regulations, intellectual property enforcement, and deforestation.

The Trump administration has repeatedly shifted to new statutes after adverse rulings. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in February, ruling 6-3 that he lacked authority to impose them, Trump invoked Section 122 within hours of the ruling. The Court of International Trade later found that substitution legally dubious, too.

Section 301 carries its own legal risk. Caleb Petitt, a research associate at the Independent Institute, said the new tariffs will likely hold up better in court than the tariffs struck down under IEEPA and Section 122, but mostly because those earlier authorities were especially weak, not because the case for Section 301 is especially strong.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.