by Craig Brightup, The Brightup Group —
Sec. 122 Tariffs Expire July 24
When the Supreme Court struck down International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs in February 2026, President Trump shifted them to 10% tariffs under Sec. 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. This was a temporary move because presidential actions under Sec. 122 are limited to 150 days unless extended by Congress which won’t happen, meaning the tariffs expire on July 24.
Furthermore, on May 7 the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled Sec. 122 doesn’t authorize tariffs but the Administration quickly got a stay while it appeals the ruling. However, the legal process will take time and the immediate concern for the Administration is having new Sec. 301 tariffs in place when the Sec. 122 tariffs expire July 24.
New Sec. 301 Tariffs
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) held July hearings on proposed new tariffs under Sec. 301 that will apply to 60 economies (59 countries and the EU) for failing to ban “goods produced with forced labor” because such foreign producers have an “artificial cost advantage.” USTR is proposing 10% tariffs for the following with insufficient forced labor import bans: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the EU. The remaining countries including China and India will have 12.5% tariffs for failing to have and enforce laws prohibiting forced labor imports.
USTR is also doing Sec. 301 investigations into 16 economies’ excess manufacturing capacity and trade surpluses. These economies are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the EU. USTR has yet to propose remedies perhaps due to its focus on the “forced labor” tariffs.
IEEPA Tariff Refunds Expanded
The Customs and Border Protection CAPE portal for IEEPA tariff refunds opened April 20 for unliquidated or recently liquidated entries, but on June 29 it began accepting certain flagged entries. CBP’s June 23 guidance CSMS#69035485 is for entries flagged for reconciliation with no reconciliation on file, stating “Effective June 29, 2026, CAPE will accept entries flagged for reconciliation (entry types 01, 02, 06) for which the reconciliation entry (entry type 09) has not been filed. Consistent with CAPE Phase 1, the entries flagged for reconciliation will be limited to unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation. Once the entries flagged for reconciliation are accepted on a CAPE declaration, the trade may file the reconciliation entry…Entries flagged for reconciliation with a reconciliation entry already on file will be included in any future phase of CAPE development.”
This new step for CAPE is somewhat surprising given the Administration’s legal challenge to CIT Judge Eaton’s March 27 order for CBP to refund all IEEPA tariffs. Regardless, CBP received tariff refund requests covering another 1.6 million entries within a day after the CAPE portal began accepting flagged entries.
USMCA Trade Agreement
In late June, the Administration formally declared it would not renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement before the July 1 notification deadline. This was expected but is not determinative of the fate of the agreement which now begins a lengthy negotiation process for revisions.
