President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on more than 80 countries face their first lawsuit and warnings from legal experts that they stretch federal trade law beyond what Congress intended.
The administration on Friday imposed new duties on goods from trading partners covering 99.4% of U.S. trade, claiming those countries failed to stop forced labor practices. Hours later, the tariffs landed in court—the same fate that befell Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs earlier this year.
Why Legal Experts Say These Won’t Stick
Trump invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which lets presidents impose tariffs to counter unfair trade practices. But Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute of International Economic Law, says Trump is “using the statute in a fundamentally different way.”
Section 301 “was never intended for the president to just wholesale rewrite the tariff schedule” and impose “permanent” duties, Harrell told CNBC. The law has been used across multiple administrations—including Trump’s first term against China—but typically as leverage in negotiations, not as a blanket rewrite of America’s entire trade policy.
What’s Different This Time
Previous Section 301 tariffs targeted specific sectors or countries after investigations into particular trade violations. Trump’s latest move applies duties across nearly all U.S. trading partners simultaneously, using forced labor as the blanket justification.
The breadth of the tariffs raises questions about whether they serve the law’s original purpose of addressing discrete unfair practices—or whether they exceed presidential authority by effectively remaking trade policy without congressional approval.
What Happens Next
The lawsuit filed hours after the tariffs took effect likely won’t be the last. If courts strike down these duties like they did Trump’s earlier tariff package, American companies importing goods from affected countries could see the levies reversed—but not before businesses absorb uncertainty and potential price increases.
For now, importers face higher costs on goods ranging from manufacturing components to consumer products. Whether those costs stick depends on how quickly courts move and whether judges agree with experts who say Trump pushed Section 301 past its legal limits.
Key Points
- New tariffs on 99.4% of U.S. trade partners face lawsuit hours after taking effect Friday
- Trump invoked Section 301 trade law, but experts say he’s using it in ways “never intended” by Congress
- Previous Trump tariffs were struck down in court; legal challenges could reverse these duties and restore lower prices
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/24/trump-tariffs-lawsuit-301-ieepa.html – July 25, 2026
