The White House said on July 23, 2026 that the Trump administration would announce the next step in its trade policy, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer set to share details later that day The Guardian.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked about the plan, said Greer would announce the steps "later today." She added: "I don't want to get ahead of him, so I would just tell you to stay tuned for more details" The Guardian.

The timing is important. The administration's current 10% tariff — a tax on goods imported from other countries — is set to expire on July 24, 2026 The Guardian. That tariff was put in place in February 2026 as a replacement after the US Supreme Court ruled that many of Trump's earlier tariffs were illegal The Guardian.

Greer appeared before US senators on July 22, 2026, where he faced questions about how the tariffs are affecting the economy. Senator Elizabeth Warren asked whether tariffs had raised prices for American families. Greer answered "No" The Guardian.

Greer told senators that core inflation — a measure of how fast prices are rising, excluding food and energy costs — fell to 2.6% compared to a year earlier. He said this was "much better than in January 2025" The Guardian. But that figure comes after a rougher stretch earlier in 2026, when US inflation hit a three-year high The Guardian.

The broader context here is that US trade policy has gone through three phases in less than a year: the original tariff program, the Supreme Court's ruling that struck down much of it, and the temporary 10% tariff that is now about to expire. With that temporary measure ending July 24, the administration has to decide what to do next: keep the current tariffs going, build a new plan that can survive a legal challenge, or let the tariffs expire altogether.

Greer's testimony suggests the administration is leaning on the recent drop in inflation to defend its tariff program. But the gap between the lower 2.6% figure and the inflation spike earlier in 2026 is where the real disagreement lies. Senator Warren's questions show that Democrats are ready to push back by pointing to that earlier surge.

The key question now is whether Greer will announce a genuinely different approach or simply extend the 10% tariff with a new legal justification. The Supreme Court's February ruling limited the administration's power, so whatever comes next will have to work within rules the original plan did not have to worry about. Leavitt's refusal to share specifics means the scope of the announcement is genuinely open.