A temporary import surcharge under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 expires on July 24, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. EDT. The expiration happens automatically — the law sets a hard 150-day limit on this type of tariff, and the clock runs out regardless of what the administration wants.

The surcharge began with a February 20, 2026, presidential action titled "Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems," listed on USTR's Presidential Tariff Actions page. Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows temporary tariff measures, but caps them at 150 days — a statutory ceiling that governs when the surcharge ends, not administrative preference.

That 150-day limit matters because the U.S. Trade Court struck down the Section 122 tariffs in a ruling issued on or before May 2026. The court's decision did not immediately void the surcharge, but it signaled that the legal authority behind it was on shaky ground.

The day after that judicial trajectory became clear, on February 21, 2026, President Trump stated he would raise the U.S. global tariff rate from 10% to 15%. That move served as both an escalation and a pivot — away from the Section 122 mechanism toward broader across-the-board duties.

The broader tariff architecture under Trump has operated on multiple tracks since the start of his second term. The America First Trade Policy presidential action, issued January 20, 2025, established the framework and explicitly referenced a July 2026 review of the USMCA (the trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada), a milestone now imminent. In April 2025, Trump announced a base tariff rate of 10% on most countries, with additional country-specific duties ranging up to 50%, though the effective date was subsequently delayed.

Reciprocal tariffs — duties set to match what other countries charge the U.S. — have been extended and modified multiple times. In July 2025, Trump signed an executive order extending certain reciprocal tariff rates that were initially set to expire on July 9. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that month that approximately 100 countries could see a reciprocal tariff rate of 10%. Country-specific rates have been calibrated bilaterally: a U.S.-India Joint Statement from February 2026 confirmed that the United States will apply a reciprocal tariff rate of 18% to India under Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025.

Executive Order 14389, issued February 20, 2026, ended certain tariff actions, consistent with the simultaneous launch of the Section 122 surcharge as an alternative enforcement vehicle. The 2026 Trade Policy Agenda and 2025 Annual Report published by USTR on February 16, 2026, addresses Section 122 in Chapter IV and Annex V, as statutorily required, formalizing the administration's posture on the surcharge within its trade policy framework.

A White House fact sheet published June 1, 2026, announced a proclamation expanding the existing 15% tariff category on industrial equipment to include mobile industrial equipment, widening the scope of the elevated base rate. J.P. Morgan Global Research has reported that the White House announced it is reducing tariffs, suggesting selective pullbacks alongside the expansions.

The legal foundations remain contested. Le Monde published an opinion piece on March 3, 2026, arguing that Trump's new tariffs are "as legally shaky as those struck down by the Supreme Court," referencing judicial precedent that has already curtailed executive tariff authority. The Section 122 court ruling and the Supreme Court's earlier invalidation of separate tariff measures create a narrowing legal corridor for the administration.

For importers, the July 24 sunset creates an immediate operational transition. Goods entered before the expiration remain subject to the surcharge; goods entered after are not, absent a replacement mechanism. The trade law bar has flagged the need for precise entry-date management around the 12:01 a.m. EDT cutoff to avoid overpayment or compliance gaps.

The broader context here is that the Section 122 sunset does not signal a broader tariff retreat. The administration has shown a pattern of substituting one legal authority for another when statutory or judicial constraints bind. The February shift from Section 122 toward a 15% global rate, the June expansion of the industrial equipment tariff category, and the ongoing country-specific reciprocal rate negotiations all point to an evolving but persistently elevated tariff regime.

The July 2026 USMCA review referenced in the America First Trade Policy memo adds another decision point. Renegotiation or withdrawal from the trade agreement would reset tariff schedules for North American supply chains, which account for a substantial share of U.S. import volume.

For portfolio managers and corporate finance teams, the operative question is not whether tariffs retreat but which legal mechanism carries them next. The 150-day statutory clock on Section 122 is the constraint, and the clock has run out.