On July 24, 2026, new tariffs of 10 and 12.5 percent took effect on goods from the 60 biggest trading partners of the United States. The tariffs cover 59 countries plus the European Union and were imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law that lets the U.S. respond to unfair trade practices by foreign governments (NPR).

The U.S. Trade Representative said the targeted countries account for more than 99 percent of imports to the United States. The administration said the tariffs are a response to those countries importing goods made with forced labor. A USTR fact sheet said: "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 on February 24, 2026, under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 — a provision that allows short-term tariff surcharges of up to 15 percent for balance-of-payments reasons. It was imposed four days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a broad set 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, or IEEPA, were unlawful. IEEPA had been the legal basis for the April 2, 2025, "Liberation Day" tariff action, which was issued as 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 the timing was intentional "to avoid complexity" for businesses paying the tariffs. Energy and many categories of foods are exempt from the new July 2026 tariffs. The administration also levied new fees on Canadian imports and threatened future tariffs on pharmaceuticals in the same period (NPR).

The administration has built its tariff system across multiple laws. On March 12, 2026, the U.S. Trade Representative launched 60 Section 301 investigations into whether various countries had failed to act on forced labor. USTR later published findings and proposed actions 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 raised tariffs on tungsten products and wafers through additional Section 301 actions (USTR).

The administration has also imposed tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, timber, and pharmaceuticals through a series of executive actions. A steel proclamation published February 18, 2025, imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel articles 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 tariff regimes (Federal Register).

A September 2025 presidential action on timber and lumber imports set a duty rate scheduled to rise to 30 percent effective January 1, 2026. That proclamation said products tariffed under it would 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 laws beyond IEEPA and Section 301, including Section 232 national security tariffs on pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients. The White House issued an adjustment action on those in April 2026 (White House).

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