Trump’s new tariffs cover more than 80 countries and 99.4% of U.S. trade

Trump’s latest tariff plan faces a lawsuit, and the path may be as rough as the last one. Courts killed his earlier “liberation day” duties after ruling that the White House used a law that did not let the president tax imports from most countries. Trump has returned with another broad tariff program, but the new case says the administration is keeping the policy alive under another law.

The duties started on Friday and cover products from more than 80 countries. Those partners account for 99.4% of U.

S. trade. The White House says the tariffs target governments that have not done enough to block goods tied to forced labor.

Trump is relying on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which lets Washington answer unfair practices with tariffs. Trade lawyers say Trump is stretching Section 301 far beyond its usual limits Section 301 has been used by several presidents, including Trump during his first term, when the United States imposed duties on China. Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute of International Economic Law, said this use is broader than usual.

He told CNBC, owned by Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), that Trump is “using the statute in a fundamentally different way.” Harrell said Congress did not create Section 301 so a president could rewrite the U.S.

tariff list or leave wide duties in place without an end date. He said courts could “for sure” cancel the policy. Trump is also using Section 301 for trade fights.

On Friday, he said the United States would immediately investigate the European Union after regulators issued penalties against American technology companies. The administration has also placed a 25% tariff on Brazilian imports and threatened a 50% rate on Canadian products. Two small companies filed the first case hours after the duties began.

Their complaint went to the U.S. Court of International Trade.

They say the forced labor claim is legal cover for rebuilding the worldwide tariff system that judges rejected