Trade, Tariffs and Trumponomics

Trade, Tariffs & Trumponomics

As President Donald Trump enters his second term, trade has become a central pillar of his foreign policy. CFR experts provide timely analysis on the trade-offs and costs involved as they explore the ripple effects on U.S. relations with allies and competitors alike and broader impact on the global economic system.

A farmworker works in a strawberry field on June 12, 2025, in Oxnard, California. Anti-immigration crackdowns ordered by US President Donald Trump has seen federal authorities target factories and work sites since June 6. Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images

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Authority	Key Powers
Tariff Act of 1930 (Smoot-Hawley Tariff) 19 U.S.C. § 1338	Grants president authority to raise tariffs up to 50 percent of the product’s value after the U.S. International Trade Commission makes a finding that a foreign country has discriminated against U.S. commerce.
Trade Expansion Act of 1962 - Section 232 19 U.S.C. § 1862	Permits the president to modify imports through tariffs or quotas where there is an identified threat to national security resulting from an investigation pursued by the Department of Commerce.
Trade Act of 1974 – Section 122 19 U.S.C. § 2132	Permits the president to impose tariffs of up to 15 percent for 150 days (unless extended by Congress) on the basis of “large and serious” U.S. balance of payments deficits.
Trade Act of 1974 – 201 Safeguards 19 U.S.C. § 2251	Authorizes the president to impose tariffs or take certain other actions if the International Trade Commission finds that a surge in imports is a “substantial cause of serious injury” to a U.S. domestic industry.
Trade Act of 1974 – Section 301 19 U.S.C. § 2411	Allows USTR, under the president’s authority, to investigate and take action against unfair foreign trade practices.
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) 50 U.S.C. § 1338 1701 et seq	Allows the president to regulate imports in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside of the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.”

Authority

Key Powers

Tariff Act of 1930 (Smoot-Hawley Tariff)
19 U.S.C. § 1338

Grants president authority to raise tariffs up to 50 percent of the product’s value after the U.S. International Trade Commission makes a finding that a foreign country has discriminated against U.S. commerce.

Trade Expansion Act of 1962 - Section 232
19 U.S.C. § 1862

Permits the president to modify imports through tariffs or quotas where there is an identified threat to national security resulting from an investigation pursued by the Department of Commerce.

Trade Act of 1974 – Section 122
19 U.S.C. § 2132

Permits the president to impose tariffs of up to 15 percent for 150 days (unless extended by Congress) on the basis of “large and serious” U.S. balance of payments deficits.

Trade Act of 1974 – 201 Safeguards
19 U.S.C. § 2251

Authorizes the president to impose tariffs or take certain other actions if the International Trade Commission finds that a surge in imports is a “substantial cause of serious injury” to a U.S. domestic industry.

Trade Act of 1974 – Section 301
19 U.S.C. § 2411

Allows USTR, under the president’s authority, to investigate and take action against unfair foreign trade practices.

International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)
50 U.S.C. § 1338 1701 et seq

Allows the president to regulate imports in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside of the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.”

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