Section 301, 232 and 122: what the difference is

These numbers appear on customs paperwork and in news coverage constantly, and confusing them leads to real errors — most often the assumption that a court decision or expiry affecting one of them affects the others.

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 lets the U.S. respond to another country's trade practices. It is assigned per product and per country, which is why there is no single "China tariff rate": the China action covers four lists of eight-digit subheadings at different rates, and many subheadings carry exclusions that expire on their own schedules. A separate Section 301 action taking effect July 24, 2026 addresses forced labour enforcement and applies 10% or 12.5% to products of roughly 60 economies.

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 rests on national security and targets categories of article — steel, aluminium, copper, semiconductors, timber. The critical property is that it is scoped by what the thing is, not where it came from. A steel article from a country with no country-specific tariff action can still fall within a Section 232 action. This is the single most common surprise for importers who check a country page and conclude they are clear.

Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows a temporary surcharge to address a balance-of-payments problem, capped by statute at 150 days without an act of Congress. A 10% global surcharge under this authority took effect February 24, 2026 and expired at that limit on July 24, 2026.

A fourth authority is worth naming because it was struck down: IEEPA. The Supreme Court held in February 2026 that it does not authorise tariffs at all, which invalidated the duties imposed under it. CBP's guidance implementing that decision stated explicitly that Section 232 and Section 301 were unaffected.