US Imposes New Tariffs to Replace Struck-Down Emergency Tariff Regime

The White House has found new legal ways to keep tariffs flowing after the Supreme Court invalidated the administration's emergency tariff regime. The administration's replacement tariffs would raise about $105 billion a year, replacing about 60% of the revenue lost. The new tariffs are narrower and include more carveouts than the emergency duties they replaced, reducing both the potential economic fallout and the revenue they generate.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Trump's latest tariff actions would raise about $950 billion through 2036, compared with $1.7 trillion from the broader emergency tariffs, a gap of roughly $825 billion. The projections assume the new tariffs survive legal challenges and remain in place. The new tariffs generally carry lower rates than the regime enacted under IEEPA, generating substantially less revenue, and are imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

The White House rejects the idea that the new tariffs were aimed at replacing the illegal duties. A senior official said synchronizing them with the expiration of temporary tariffs was intended to provide continuity and predictability for businesses, not necessarily to recreate the earlier regime. The Treasury Department is still unwinding the old tariffs, with net customs receipts falling to negative $25.6 billion in June as refund checks to importers outpaced new tariff collections.