President-elect Trump’s expressed interest in possibly raising tariffs on imported goods has prompted considerable effort in trying to understand the scope of Presidential authority to raise tariffs. While the Congress has primary authority to set tariffs and the U.S. has made extensive international commitments to not raise tariffs, President-elect Trump will have a degree of unilateral authority in this area. Many recent news articles and reports have catalogued Presidential authority in this area. In doing our own research, we uncovered a statute – Section 338 of the Trade Act of 1930 – that has been overlooked but gives the President significant tariff-raising authority, and permits private parties to petition for relief. Here is the link to the article we recently authored explaining Section 338, its history, and its prior uses.
