Trump administration imposed new Section 301 tariffs on ~60 countries after truncated forced-labor investigations

On July 23, 2026, the Trump administration, acting through the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, imposed new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 countries and the European Union — covering roughly 99% of U.S. imports — invoking Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and citing those trading partners' failure to enforce bans on goods produced with forced labor [1][3][4]. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the action was taken "at President Trump's direction" [1]. The move followed the Supreme Court's February 2026 ruling that Trump's earlier tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, exceeded his executive authority, and came the same week a stopgap Section 122 tariff the administration had used in the interim was set to expire [2][3][4].

USTR said its investigation included two rounds of public hearings and more than 2,100 public comments [1]. A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general disputes that the process was substantive: the investigations into 60 trading partners were completed in under three months, versus the roughly year-long investigations Section 301 inquiries have historically taken, identified only three forced-labor products, and exempted one of them — Brazilian beef — from the tariffs altogether [2]. The coalition also alleges USTR failed to engage with public comments and testimony that contradicted its stated rationale, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act [2].

Congress delegates tariff authority to the executive only in limited, procedurally bounded circumstances. Invoking that authority through a truncated, allegedly pretextual process — weeks after the Supreme Court had already rejected the administration's prior tariff mechanism — repeats a pattern of imposing sweeping trade taxes without the statutory process Congress required.

Updates

2026-07-24 — Business importers also sued over the tariffs [6]

The Liberty Justice Center filed a separate lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade on behalf of import businesses Burlap & Barrel and Collective Horology, arguing the administration could not preserve the same global tariff policy simply by shifting its legal basis from IEEPA to Section 301, and seeking a declaration that the tariffs are unlawful along with refunds of duties already paid.

2026-08-03 — Coalition of states and two governors sued over the tariffs [2]

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul announced that a coalition of more than 20 Democratic-led state attorneys general, along with the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, sued the Trump administration in the U.S. Court of International Trade, arguing the tariffs violate the Administrative Procedure Act and exceed the limited tariff authority Congress delegated under Section 301 [2].

2026-08-06 — North Carolina joined the multistate lawsuit [5]

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced he had joined the coalition of states challenging the tariffs, saying the levies would cost the average North Carolina family about $1,100 per year [5].