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2026-02-21 01:37:18
Capital Economics: Court Ruling Significantly Limits Trump's Tariff Agenda Options. Capital Economics points out that US President Trump's other options for advancing his tariff agenda are quite limited. Economist Paul Ashworth stated that Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 is highly binding, not only limiting the maximum tariff rate to 15%, but also limiting its validity to only 150 days without congressional approval. He also mentioned that related tariffs must adhere to the "non-discrimination principle," meaning a uniform tariff rate for all trading partners, which means that many agreements previously negotiated by Trump will no longer be enforceable. Ashworth analyzes that Trump may also try to invoke Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% on countries that "discriminate" against the United States. However, similar to the IEEPA situation, Ashworth expects the court to rule that the relevant explicit provisions of the updated Trade Act of 1974 have priority.
