After IEEPA, What Tariff Tools Will Trump Turn to Next?

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Trump's use of IEEPA for tariffs and explores alternative trade measures he may employ.

Close followers of trade news were waiting for this moment: On February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 against President Donald Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to slap tariffs on trade partners around the world. Trump first used IEEPA, a measure typically used to apply sanctions, a year ago, when he imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China with the argument that these three countries hadn’t done enough to stop fentanyl flows into the United States. Then he invoked IEEPA again in April 2025, when he slapped tariffs on countries around the world. Although SCOTUS' decision reined in Trump's tariffs on one front, he soon enough used another piece of legislation, section 122, to impose new global duties. “President Trump has a huge trade arsenal at his disposal, and what we're going to be seeing in the next few weeks is the Trump administration using other measures [that are] more procedural but are less legally exposed,” Diego Marroquín Bitar, a fellow with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies and USMCA expert, told AS/COA Online’s Carin Zissis. From IEEPA to legal measures like 122, 232, and…

People in this episode

Host: Carin Zissis

Guest: Diego Marroquín Bitar

Topics covered

• tariffs
• trade policy
• USMCA
• international relations

Keywords

• IEEPA
• section 122
• trade arsenal
• SCOTUS decision

Mentioned in this episode

Products: tariffs, USMCA

Places: Canada, Mexico, China, the United States

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