Thompson Hine | President Trump Implements Temporary Import Duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Continues the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Exception for International Shipments

On February 20, 2026, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation announcing that he was imposing a temporary import surcharge (i.e., tariff) pursuant to section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. Section 2132) to address “fundamental international payments problems” that “could impair United States national interests, including economic and national security interests.” Stating that an import surcharge in the form of ad valorem duties is required to deal with large and serious U.S. balance-of-payments deficits, President Trump announced that a temporary surcharge of 10% would be implemented for a period of 150 days on articles imported into the United States, effective February 24, 2026, and continue in effect through 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 24, 2026. On February 21, 2026, President Trump announced that this tariff would be raised to 15%; however, at the time of this blog post, no official proclamation or executive order has been issued to implement the higher rate.

The additional temporary duty rate does not apply to the following products, as further detailed in Annex I and Annex II to the proclamation:

• certain critical minerals;
• metals used in currency and bullion;
• energy and energy products;
• natural resources and fertilizers that cannot be grown, mined, or otherwise produced in the United States or grown, mined, or otherwise produced in sufficient quantities to meet domestic demand;
• certain agricultural products, including beef, tomatoes, and oranges;
• pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients;
• certain electronics;
• passenger vehicles, certain light trucks, certain medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, buses, and certain parts of passenger vehicles, light trucks, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, and buses;
• certain aerospace products;
• information materials, donations, and accompanied baggage;
• all articles and parts of articles currently or that later become subject to additional import restrictions imposed pursuant to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962;
• articles that are entered free of duty as a good of Canada or Mexico under the terms of general note 11 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), including any treatment set forth in subchapter XXIII of chapter 98 and subchapter XXII of chapter 99 of the HTSUS, as related to the Agreement between the United States of America, United Mexican States, and Canada; and
• textile and apparel articles that are entered free of duty as a good of Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement.

Any tariffs implemented under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 are temporary and may not exceed 150 days unless extended by an Act of Congress. Notably, the implementation of such temporary tariffs does not require any preceding investigation or factual findings by any executive branch agencies and has never before been used. The court thus have not interpreted the language of section 122 and whether the term “balance-of-payments deficits” includes trade deficits.

In a separate executive order, President Trump also reaffirmed and continued the suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value shipments, including goods shipped through the international postal system, which will also be subject to the temporary import duty imposed under section 122.

Authors:
•  Scott E. Diamond**, Senior Legislative and Regulatory Policy Advisor, THOMPSON HINE
•  David M. Schwartz, Practice Group Leader, International Trade, THOMPSON HINE
• Samir D. Varma, Partner, THOMPSON HINE
• Francesca M.S. Guerrero ,Partner, THOMPSON HINE
• Aaron C. Mandelbaum, Associate, THOMPSON HINE

Compliments of Thompson Hine – a member of the EACCNY