On July 24, 2026, a new set of tariffs took effect with two tiers of 10 and 12.5 percent, imposed on goods from the 60 biggest trading partners of the United States. The tariffs cover 59 countries plus the European Union and were instituted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows tariffs to address unfair trade practices by foreign countries (NPR).

The U.S. Trade Representative stated that the countries subject to the new tariffs account for more than 99 percent of imports to the United States. The administration justified the new levies by stating that the targeted countries are importing goods made with forced labor. A USTR fact sheet stated: "The United States is the only country in the world to adopt, and effectively enforce, a ban on imports made with forced labor" (USTR Fact Sheet).

The new tariffs took effect immediately after a global 10 percent tariff expired at 12:01 AM Eastern on Friday, July 24, 2026. That temporary tariff had been imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 on February 24, 2026, four days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a broad swath of President Trump's tariffs (White & Case, The Hill).

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court found that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unlawful. IEEPA had served as the statutory backbone of the April 2, 2025, "Liberation Day" tariff action (Executive Order 14257) (Levy Institute, Federal Register).

The same day as the ruling, Trump said at a White House press briefing that "other alternatives will now be used to replace the ones that the court incorrectly rejected" and "we have alternatives, great alternatives" (NPR).

A senior administration official told reporters that the changeover timing was intentional "to avoid complexity" for businesses paying the tariffs. Energy and many categories of foods are exempted from the new July 2026 tariffs. The Trump administration also levied new fees on Canadian imports and threatened future tariffs on pharmaceuticals in the same period as the July 2026 tariff changeover (NPR).

The administration has built a complex tariff architecture across multiple statutory authorities. Section 301 investigations have been a central component of that effort. On March 12, 2026, the U.S. Trade Representative initiated 60 Section 301 investigations related to the failure of various economies to take action on forced labor. USTR later published findings and proposed actions stemming from those investigations (USTR Press Release). Separately, USTR imposed a 25 percent tariff on certain imports from Brazil due to "unreasonable acts, policies, and practices" and increased tariffs on tungsten products and wafers through additional Section 301 actions (USTR).

On the sectoral front, the administration has imposed tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, timber, and pharmaceuticals through a series of executive actions. A steel proclamation published in the Federal Register on February 18, 2025, imposed a 25 percent ad valorem tariff on steel articles imported from most countries (Federal Register). Proclamation 11021, published April 9, 2026, strengthened actions on aluminum, steel, and copper imports (Federal Register). Proclamation 11032, dated June 1, 2026, further adjusted those regimes (Federal Register).

A September 2025 presidential action adjusting timber and lumber imports set a duty rate scheduled to increase to 30 percent effective January 1, 2026. That proclamation explicitly stated that products tariffed under it shall not be subject to any tariffs imposed by Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025 (Federal Register).

The February 20, 2026 Supreme Court ruling also prompted the White House to end certain tariff actions. A presidential proclamation issued that day ended Executive Order 14245, which had imposed tariffs on countries importing Venezuelan oil in March 2025 (White House).

On the congressional front, U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer testified at a hearing the week of July 24, 2026. Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, accused the administration of lying about its tariff motivations during that hearing (NPR).

President Trump has also announced targeted exemptions. On May 1, 2026, Trump said he will exempt UK-origin whiskey from tariffs, though no official implementing document had been released as of that announcement (Trade Compliance Resource Hub).

The administration's tariff policy spans multiple statutory authorities beyond IEEPA and Section 301, including Section 232 national security tariffs on pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients, for which the White House issued an adjustment action in April 2026 (White House).

The broader context here is the administration's pivot from the IEEPA framework struck down by the Supreme Court to Section 301 as the primary vehicle for broad trade levies. The Section 122 tariff served as a bridge between the February ruling and the July implementation of the new two-tier structure. The forced labor rationale aligns the new tariffs with existing enforcement mechanisms while providing a statutory basis that has survived judicial scrutiny in prior trade cases.