Analysis by Energy Workforce President Tim Tarpley
The tariff rollercoaster that we have all been on continues its whirlwind ride. In the past week, several courts have issued rulings on various Trump tariffs. First, on May 28th, the NYC-based US Court of International Trade ruled that the IEEPA (Liberation Day tariffs) were beyond the statutory authority given to the President under IEEPA and were unlawful. The court reasoned that the tariffs are not intended to deal with the fentanyl crisis directly. IEEPA is intended to give the President significant powers during times of “unusual and extraordinary” threats during national emergencies. This second ruling, however, has a less immediate impact than the first because it only dealt with the plaintiffs, who were two small businesses, so the ruling was limited to their trade.
The Trump administration has vowed to fight both rulings and has already won a temporary pause of the US Court of International Trade through an appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which will allow them to reinstate these tariffs during the early stages of appeal. The court will rule on the request for a longer pause later this month. So, in the meantime, the reciprocal tariffs will remain, but their future appears to be uncertain at best, at least using the IEPPA justifications.
Along these lines, the President, after a trip to Pittsburgh last week, announced that he plans to double the current steel and aluminum tariffs under section 232 on Friday. This planned doubling is scheduled to take place on June 4th. Equally important is that a number of US forging companies have filed petitions to include a variety of forged and semi-forged products to be included under section 232. Some of these petitions include important oilfield products. Should these petitions be accepted, the result will be that these products, either complete or semi-complete, would be subject to the new 50% 232 tariffs. It is essential to note that these tariffs would remain in effect even if the courts ultimately overturn the President’s authority under IEEPA.
Tim Tarpley, Energy Workforce President, analyzes federal policy for the Energy Workforce & Technology Council. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Workforce newsletter, which highlights sector-specific issues, best practices, activities and more.
