SHANKER SINGHAM: The New Landing Zone For U.S. Tariff Policy

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

When the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), some predicted chaos. Had the Court just detonated U.S. trade policy?

Not quite. The justices may have done markets a favor. By removing IEEPA as a presidential Swiss Army knife for tariffs, the Court replaced improvisation with guardrails. Investors prefer lanes to open fields. So do America’s trading partners.

Under Trump, IEEPA functioned as an all-purpose “because I said so” clause: declare an emergency, reach for tariffs. The ruling doesn’t end the tariff era; it narrows the runway. And that narrowing brings clarity. The White House’s response made the point. Within hours it announced a temporary 10%—now 15%—global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and launched new investigations under Section 301 into unfair foreign trade practices. (RELATED: Supreme Court Leaves Key Question Unanswered As Trump Charts New Course For Tariffs)

That sequencing matters. Section 122 is a bridge, not a permanent platform. It allows tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days to address serious balance-of-payments problems. It is fast, broad, and—crucially—time-limited. Think of it as a tactical pause button.

This shift pushes U.S. tariff policy toward a narrower “landing zone”: tariffs justified as countermeasures to foreign barriers and anti-competitive........

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