The Tumultuous Tariff Time

President Trump touted that tariff was one of his favorite words and he has been doing everything in his power to have additional tariffs stick on certain products and/or countries since the beginning of his second time in office. Earlier this month, the White House hosted a Small Business Summit. I saw some of the broadcast of President Trump meeting with various owners of small US businesses. He had some of them come up and speak, but what caught my ear was when Trump started talking about tariffs. He basically said that he was going to get them one way or another. The way that he must go about it can take longer now since there have to be investigations. During his remarks he stood up for the small businesses that make products here in the US.

This made me think of reasons why we have tariffs to begin with. Tariffs aren’t put in place to hurt American businesses. They are put in place to make American made goods more competitive in the marketplace. We all know that products can be made cheaper in China and therefore be cheaper to buy from them. As a result, the American business that makes the same product might not be able to sell it as cheaply and therefore it may eventually put them out of business. If you look though the United States Harmonized Tariff Schedule (USHTS) to see which products have a general duty rate, it is a small amount compared to all the HTS numbers that are listed. Adding an additional tariff to some of these products helps to level the playing field for US business that makes the same products.

Let’s examine what the tariffs looked like so far and where they could be headed.

IEEPA Tariffs

The first attempt was imposing tariffs under the International Emergency Economics Protection Act (IEEPA), which was then ruled illegal. After the Supreme Court ruled against these tariffs, the Court of International Trade then instructed US Customs to come up with a way to refund the duties paid by importers for the IEEPA tariffs that were imposed. CBP’s solution was developing the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE). US Customs rolled out CAPE on April 20, 2026 for Phase 1. With this phase there are only certain entries that can be submitted for refund. CBP has estimated there are about 330,000 eligible importers that could receive refunds once their submission in CAPE has been filed and validated. Are you one of those importers? Have you or your customs broker filed a CAPE submission to get the refunds back? Are you still confused about what can be submitted during Phase 1?

Section 122 Tariffs

His second attempt was imposing an across the board 10% tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. These tariffs are only valid for 150 days and then must have approval from Congress for them to continue. Which means these tariffs could effectively end on July 24, 2026. If you haven’t heard, on May 7, 2026, the Court of International Trade (CIT) had ruled on one case that those tariffs were used unlawfully. However, this decision is currently being appealed. Unlike the IEEPA tariffs, the CIT did not rule that all importers are affected by this decision. The injunction of the Section 122 tariffs only applies to the companies that were named in the suit, which are Burlap and Barrel, Basic Fun and the state of Washington. So, what does this mean for the rest of the importers that are affected by the Section 122 tariffs? It is expected that the decision will be upheld in appeal and that the CIT will eventually order refunds. But just like with the IEEPA tariffs, CBP will resist issuing refunds on entries that are outside the 90-day liquidation window. In the meantime, importers can file suit of their own disputing the Section 122 tariffs. If you choose to go this route, then make sure that you don’t get your suit dismissed for “lack of standing” like most state plaintiffs were. Another way that other importers can protect their right to potential refunds for the Section 122 tariffs is to file a protest for the entries that had the additional 10% tariff imposed on them. We don’t know what will happen with the appeal or if the CIT will extend the suspension of the Section 122 tariffs beyond the companies in the lawsuit, so stay tuned.

Section 232 Tariffs

As we all know there are Section 232 tariffs on several commodities, including steel, aluminum and copper. However, there are numerous investigations happening under the Section 232 tariffs. One that had finished was the one on pharmaceuticals. A proclamation on imposing tariffs for them came out on April 2, 2026. These tariffs will take effect on July 31, 2026, and will cover patented pharmaceutical products and their ingredients for companies that are listed in Annex III of the proclamation. Then on September 29, 2026, the Section 232 tariffs will apply to all other companies. If you are an importer of patented pharmaceuticals, be sure to read the proclamation to see what’s covered and if there are any tariff exceptions that could be available.

There are some other Section 232 investigations that have had a report due date recently or are coming up. Those include:

Semiconductors – report was due on April 14, 2026

Critical Minerals – report due July 13, 2026

Commercial Aircraft & Jet Engines – announcement of action (if any) expected no later than Mid-May 2026

Polysilicon & its derivatives – announcement of action (if any) expected no later than Mid-July 2026

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (“UAS”) & Parts/Components – announcement of action (if any) expected no later than Mid-July 2026

Wind Turbines & Parts/Components – announcement of action (if any) expected no later than late August 2026

Personal Protective Equipment, Medical Consumables & Medical Equipment – announcement of action (if any) expected no later than Mid-September 2026

Robotics & Industrial Machinery – announcement of action (if any) expected no later than Mid-September 2026

Stay tuned for updates on the ongoing Section 232 tariffs.

Section 301 Tariffs

In President Trump’s first term in office, he imposed Section 301 tariffs on China, which are still in effect. During President Biden’s stent in office, he maintained these tariffs and added to them and increased the tariff on some of the commodities from China. The Section 301 tariffs are targeted investigations are country and sector specific investigations. There are several Section 301 investigations that are in process now. During these investigations the USTR does allow public comment. The investigations that are currently happening and/or the public comment period has closed are:

1. Structural Excess Capacity and Production in Manufacturing Sectors
   • Countries targeted: China, EU, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, India
   • Focus of investigation: Overproduction and large/persistent trade surpluses that undercut U.S. producers and distort global pricing.
2. Failure to Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced with Forced Labor
   • Focus of Investigation: Countries not effectively banning imports of goods made with forced labor
3. Korea’s Acts, Policies and Practices Concerning Coupang
   • Focus of Investigation: Alleged unfair trade practices by South Korea related to Coupang’s market access
4. China’s Implementation of Commitments Under the Phase One Agreement
   • Focus of Investigation: Whether China is meeting its Phase One trade commitments
5. Brazil’s Acts, Policies and Practices
   • Focus of Investigation: Digital trade, electronic payment services, unfair tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, IP protection, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation
6. China’s Targeting of the Semiconductor Industry for Dominance
   • Focus of Investigation: Alleged unfair practices in the semiconductor sector
7. Nicaragua Labor Rights, Human Rights and Rule of Law
   • Focus of Investigation: Alleged violations of labor and human rights that affect trade

You can find all the information on the United States Trade Representative website. There are links on the website for these investigations and more information, such as the hearing transcripts, when the comment period closes and other documents pertaining to the investigations.

It has been the season of tariffs for quite a while now and I don’t see that they will end anytime soon. It’s important to keep up to date on all the changes that might affect your supply chain, where you obtain your materials and if any of them can be affected by additional tariffs. Staying informed will help you to make a better business decision and know exactly how much duty you could be potentially facing. If you find yourself in a rabbit hole when trying to review potential duty, making sure your HTS number is correct, or maybe you don’t even know where to start, you are not alone. There is help and one way to get that help is to schedule a no-charge consultation with one of our trade compliance professionals today.