26. Trade · Major · Contested — excluded from counts
Repeal all tariffs enacted under Sections 232, 201, and 301
Printed page 802 26. Trade · from “The Case for Free Trade” · abridged
“The first order of business for a new Administration that is focused on American workers and consumers is to repeal all tariffs enacted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Sections 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The President can do this unilaterally, and Congress can do it through legislation.”
What has happened
- Not started
Not one of the three authorities was wound back; all three were used harder, and after the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs on 2026-02-20 they became the main instruments of trade policy. Section 232: steel and aluminum tariffs were reimposed and broadened on 2025-02-10, raised to 50 percent on 2025-06-03, and strengthened again on 2026-04-02, 2026-06-01 and 2026-07-20, with new sectoral regimes for copper, timber and lumber, automobiles and parts, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, processed critical minerals, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, commercial aircraft, polysilicon and unmanned aircraft systems — the most recent on 2026-08-13. Section 301: new actions against China's semiconductor industry (2025-12-29), Nicaragua (2025-12-12), Brazil (2026-07-20) and 60 economies over forced labor (2026-07-28), plus a four-year review of the existing China tariffs opened 2026-05-06. Section 201: Proclamation 11051 of 2026-07-31 imposed a safeguard on quartz surface products after an affirmative ITC injury determination — the first new safeguard action of the window.
No action found yet. This entry is the starting point, not a finding.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- Contested Recommendation from “The Case for Free Trade”. It points the opposite way from #2075 (“expand tariffs to all Chinese products”), from the Mandate’s “Case for Fair Trade” essay. The two were researched separately against their own Quotes; the Supreme Court’s IEEPA ruling of 2026-02-20 undid #2075’s object and left this one’s untouched, because IEEPA is not Section 232, 201 or 301.
- Contrary action, Primary sources loaded this session (Federal Register Corpus records
whose titles match the claim):
- Section 232 — Proclamation of 2025-02-10, “Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States”, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/18/2025-02833/adjusting-imports-of-steel-into-the-united-states ; 2025-06-03, “Adjusting Imports of Aluminum and Steel Into the United States” (rates to 50 percent), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/06/09/2025-10524/adjusting-imports-of-aluminum-and-steel-into-the-united-states ; 2026-01-14, semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/20/2026-01052/adjusting-imports-of-semiconductors-semiconductor-manufacturing-equipment-and-their-derivative ; 2026-04-02, “Strengthening Actions Taken To Adjust Imports of Aluminum, Steel, and Copper”, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/09/2026-06960/strengthening-actions-taken-to-adjust-imports-of-aluminum-steel-and-copper-into-the-united-states ; 2026-04-02, pharmaceuticals, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/09/2026-06956/adjusting-imports-of-pharmaceuticals-and-pharmaceutical-ingredients-into-the-united-states ; 2026-06-01, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/04/2026-11314/further-adjusting-the-tariff-regimes-for-imports-of-aluminum-steel-and-copper-into-the-united-states ; 2026-07-09, commercial aircraft and jet engines, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/15/2026-14334/adjusting-imports-of-commercial-aircraft-jet-engines-and-aircraft-and-engine-parts-into-the-united ; 2026-08-06, polysilicon, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/11/2026-16400/adjusting-imports-of-polysilicon-and-its-derivatives-into-the-united-states ; 2026-08-13, unmanned aircraft systems, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/19/2026-16979/adjusting-imports-of-unmanned-aircraft-systems-and-unmanned-aircraft-systems-components-into-the
- Section 301 — USTR “Notice of Action: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Targeting of the Semiconductor Industry for Dominance”, 2025-12-29, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23912/notice-of-action-chinas-acts-policies-and-practices-related-to-targeting-of-the-semiconductor ; “Notice of Action: Brazil’s Acts, Policies, and Practices…”, 2026-07-20, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/20/2026-14542/notice-of-action-brazils-acts-policies-and-practices-related-to-digital-trade-and-electronic-payment ; “Notice of Actions in Section 301 Investigations of … 60 Economies … Forced Labor”, 2026-07-28, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/28/2026-15181/notice-of-actions-in-section-301-investigations-of-acts-policies-and-practices-of-various-economies ; “Initiation of Second Four-Year Review Process: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer…”, 2026-05-06, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/06/2026-08806/initiation-of-second-four-year-review-process-chinas-acts-policies-and-practices-related-to
- Section 201 — Proclamation 11051 of 2026-07-31, “To Facilitate Positive Adjustment to Competition From Imports of Quartz Surface Products”, reciting the ITC’s affirmative determination under section 202(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 — https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/05/2026-15975/to-facilitate-positive-adjustment-to-competition-from-imports-of-quartz-surface-products (operative text read at govinfo, FR-2026-08-05/2026-15975)
- The only tariff repeal in the window is Executive Order 14389 (2026-02-20), which ended the IEEPA duties after Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump — a different authority, and compelled rather than chosen. Proclamation 11012 of the same day exempts from its section 122 surcharge “all articles … subject to additional import restrictions imposed pursuant to section 232”, which is how the record shows the Section 232 regime surviving intact.
- Product exclusions were granted and extended under the China Section 301 action (notices of 2025-06-05, 2025-09-02, 2025-12-01); exclusions narrow a tariff’s scope, they do not repeal it, so no partial event is recorded.
- Action
- repeal
- Object
- Tariffs imposed under Sections 232, 201, and 301
- ID
- 2109