Trump administration kicks off new process to try to replace tariffs
struck down by Supreme Court
[March 12, 2026]
By JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday opened a new
trade investigation into manufacturing in foreign countries — an effort
that comes after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s
previous use of tariffs by declaring an economic emergency.
Trump and his team have made clear that they’re seeking to replace the
hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenues after the Supreme
Court’s February ruling by using different laws to establish new
tariffs.
In this case, the administration is starting investigations under
Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which could eventually lead to new
import taxes. But U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in a
Wednesday call with reporters, said he didn’t want to prejudge the
outcome of the process.
“The policy remains the same — the tools may change depending on, you
know, the vagaries of courts and other things," said Greer, stressing
that the goal was to protect American jobs.
The start of the process to fully replace Trump’s prior tariffs could
invite a return of much of the drama that rattled the global economy
last year. The since-overturned tariffs led to new frameworks with U.S.
trade partners — and it’s unclear what impact a new set of import taxes
could have on those agreements. Greer described the trade frameworks as
standing on their own and suggested they were separate from the new
investigation.
This new set of tariffs could play out against the backdrop of a war in
Iran and midterm elections in which Democrats are running against
Trump’s Republican allies by emphasizing that the public is owed tariff
refunds following the Supreme Court decision.
Greer said that the investigation would examine excess industrial
capacity and government backing that could give foreign companies an
unfair advantage over U.S. companies.
The entities subject to the investigation include China, the European
Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia,
Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, the self-governing island of Taiwan,
Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan and India. The government is looking for what
it deems to be persistent trade surpluses with the U.S. and policies
such as subsidies and the suppression of workers' wages, among other
factors.
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The administration is also rolling out a Section 301 investigation
to ban the importing of goods made by forced labor.
Greer indicated that there could be additional Section 301
investigations over issues such as digital service taxes,
pharmaceutical drug pricing and ocean pollution, among other
possibilities. The Commerce Department has separate trade
investigations under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act.
There are timeline pressures for the administration to complete its
investigations. The administration has imposed 10% tariffs on
foreign-made goods under section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, but
those expire after 150 days on July 24. Trump said he planned to
raise that import tax to 15%, but he has yet to do so.
Greer said the administration is “keying off” the new investigation
based on the 150-day deadline, saying that the goal is to bring
“potential options” to Trump as soon as possible.
Greer said the investigations would be separate from the trade
frameworks announced last year by Trump that set baseline tariff
rates, which led to 15% rates charged on goods from the European
Union, Japan and South Korea, among other places, that have since
been overturned by the Supreme Court. Still, he suggested that the
frameworks could play a factor.
“My sense is that these countries continue to want to deal, and
President Trump continues to want the deal,” Greer said, adding that
since tariffs are in play the commitments that the countries have
made and the implementation of the frameworks would be considered as
they “bump” against the demands of the Section 301 process.
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AP writer Mae Anderson contributed to this report.
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