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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be restored as early as July, signaling a rapid pivot by the Trump administration after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s IEEPA-based tariffs earlier this year, forcing the administration to turn to other trade authorities.
“We had a setback at the Supreme Court in terms of the tariff policy,” Bessent said Tuesday at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal. “But we will be implementing or conducting Section 301 studies — so the tariffs could be back in place at the previous level by [the] beginning of July.”
His remarks come after the Supreme Court ruled in February that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize tariffs.
Trump has billed tariffs as “life or death” for the U.S. economy — underscoring the outsize importance the administration has placed on the issue.
TRUMP TARIFF PLAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AS COURT BATTLES INTENSIFY
A protester holds a sign as the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on President Trump’s tariffs on Nov. 5, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Bessent’s comments also come as the U.S. collected more than $133 billion in IEEPA tariff duties as of mid-December, according to data published by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, a figure that later grew to roughly $166 billion by early March 2026.
The administration moved to preserve tariffs in the weeks since the Supreme Court’s ruling to find new ways to implement the import fees, invoking several provisions of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 in order to do so.
Bessent’s remarks, first reported by Bloomberg, are a sign that the Trump administration plans to enact a combination of statutes under the trade law as it looks to move past the high court’s ruling and find new ways to sustain U.S. tariff pressure.
The strategy, long-term, appears to focus largely on Section 301 of…
