Trump Eyes New Trade Probes to Revive Tariffs After Court Defeat

The US is readying a spate of additional national security investigations that would enable President Donald Trump to impose new tariffs, as the administration seeks to rebuild his global tariff regime in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down the country-specific emergency levies he imposed last year.

The administration is preparing plans to launch investigations into the impact of imports on batteries, cast iron and iron fittings, electrical grid equipment, telecom equipment, plastics and plastic piping, and industrial chemicals, according to a person familiar with the plans granted anonymity to detail internal deliberations. The probes under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 were first reported by the Wall Street Journal; the provision allows the president to impose levies based on national security concerns.