Trade Expansion Act of 1962

Under Section 232, the Commerce Department must investigate whether imports threaten national security and report within 270 days; the President then has 90 days to decide and 15 days to implement measures such as tariffs or quotas, with no statutory cap on rate or duration. The original negotiating authority let the President cut tariffs by up to 50 percent. Other provisions created adjustment assistance for workers and firms hurt by imports.

This 1962 law is the source of the Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, autos, trucks, lumber and semiconductors that now shape many landed costs. Because Section 232 needs no new act of Congress and was untouched by the 2026 Supreme Court IEEPA ruling, it has become a preferred tariff tool. Commerce investigations signal future duties: the truck investigation opened in April 2025 and tariffs followed that November. Drone tariffs followed in August 2026, and pending studies on products such as robotics, industrial machinery and polysilicon could affect goods stored in fulfillment centers.

• Section 301 TariffsExtra US duties, mainly on Chinese goods
• IEEPA Tariffs2025 US duties applied by country

• Kennedy Round1964–1967 · GATT talks cut industrial tariffs by about 35 percent

• Section 232 Tariffs2018, expanded 2025 and 2026 · National-security tariffs on metals, autos and more
• Trade Act of 19741974 · US law behind Section 301, 201 and 122 tariffs
• Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 19341934 · Law letting the President cut tariffs by agreement

1. 19 U.S.C. 1862, Safeguarding national security law.cornell.edu
2. CRS: Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 congress.gov