Trump's new tariff has a 150-day clock

Refusing to concede defeat following the Supreme Court’s historic rebuke, the White House invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 on 24 February, imposing an immediate, temporary 10 per cent baseline tariff on all global merchandise imports. However, the new trade decree operates under a rigid, unyielding statutory constraint: a mandatory 150-day expiration clock.

The Architecture of Section 122

Section 122 provides the executive explicit statutory authority to address 'large and serious balance-of-payments deficits' through temporary import surcharges capped at 15 per cent. Unlike the open-ended emergency claims under IEEPA, Section 122 is strictly bounded: the tariffs legally expire after 150 days unless Congress passes a formal joint resolution of approval.

The 150-Day Negotiating Window

For corporate supply chains and trading desks, the new tariff functions as a temporary bridge rather than a permanent trade regime. Imposing a 10 per cent surcharge with an explicit expiration date creates an artificial countdown. Importers are already planning to delay shipment deliveries into late summer to clear customs after the 150-day window lapses. Section 122 gives the administration a temporary 150-day tariff shield, but the statutory ticking clock strips the executive of long-term leverage, ensuring that trade policy will face another constitutional crisis before the summer ends.