Section 122 10% surcharge replaces IEEPA tariffs

On 20 February 2026 President Trump signed Proclamation 11012, “Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge To Address Fundamental International Payments Problems,” imposing a 10 percent additional ad valorem surcharge on imports under § 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, 19 U.S.C. § 2132, effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on 24 February 2026.¹ He signed it the same day as Executive Order 14389, “Ending Certain Tariff Actions,” under which the IEEPA duties “shall no longer be in effect and, as soon as practicable, shall no longer be collected,” and Executive Order 14388, continuing the suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries; EO 14389 leaves both the proclamation and the de minimis order “unaffected.”²³ Section 122(a) authorises the President to impose import surcharges of up to 15 percent to deal “with large and serious United States balance-of- payments deficits,” “to prevent an imminent and significant depreciation of the dollar in foreign exchange markets,” or “to cooperate with other countries in correcting an international balance-of-payments disequilibrium”; the same subsection limits the surcharge to “a period not exceeding 150 days (unless such period is extended by Act of Congress).”⁴ The proclamation’s preambular findings rest on the President’s advisers’ reading of Bureau of Economic Analysis balance-of-payments series, including the balance on goods and services and the balance on primary income.¹⁵ It does not mention IEEPA or the Supreme Court’s ruling of the same day in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which held that IEEPA does not authorise tariffs.¹⁶

1. The 10 percent surcharge is implemented at HTSUS Chapter 99 subchapter III subheading 9903.03.01, with exemption subheadings at 9903.03.02 through 9903.03.11, under CBP Cargo Systems Messaging Service Bulletin CSMS # 67844987 of 23 February 2026; goods loaded before 12:01 a.m. on 24 February 2026 and entered before 12:01 a.m. on 28 February 2026 are exempt under 9903.03.02.¹⁷ Paragraph 14 of the proclamation exempts thirteen categories: certain critical minerals; metals used in currency and bullion; energy and energy products; natural resources and fertilizers not produced domestically in sufficient quantities; certain agricultural products, including beef, tomatoes and oranges; pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients; certain electronics; passenger vehicles and certain trucks, buses and parts; certain aerospace products; information materials, donations and accompanied baggage; all articles subject to § 232 tariffs; duty-free USMCA goods of Canada and Mexico; and duty-free CAFTA-DR textile and apparel articles.¹

2. Section 122 surcharges expire by operation of law 150 days after their effective date — the proclamation runs through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 24 July 2026 unless extended by Act of Congress.⁴¹⁷

3. The surcharge stacks on § 301 duties but not on § 232 duties. It applies “in addition to any other duties, taxes, fees, exactions, and charges,” but “shall not apply in addition to tariffs imposed under section 232”; where a § 232 tariff covers part of an import, the surcharge applies only to the rest.⁸ Executive Order 14389 “does not affect any other duties, including duties imposed under section 232 … and section 301.”² The § 232 and § 301 frameworks operate on independent statutory timelines — Commerce reporting under § 1862(b)(3)(A) and presidential action under § 1862(c)(1) for § 232, and USTR investigation under § 2414(a)(2) for § 301 — and tariff actions concluded under those statutes are not subject to the 150-day § 122 clock.⁹¹⁰

Corrections

• 2026-09-24: Effect 3 said the § 122 surcharge stacks on § 232 duties, and gave § 232 steel and aluminum rates of 25 percent. The proclamation says the opposite: the surcharge “shall not apply in addition to tariffs imposed under section 232,” and ¶ 14(k) exempts every article subject to § 232 tariffs; steel and aluminum had been at 50 percent since 4 June 2025. Effect 3 now reports clauses (3) and (4).⁸ The post also placed the 150-day limit at § 2132(b) and a “joint resolution” extension at § 2132(d); the cap, the limit and extension “by Act of Congress” are all in § 2132(a).⁴ It said the surcharge took effect “concurrent with the end of IEEPA tariff collection,” which EO 14389 does not say: collection was to end “as soon as practicable,” with no date.² Effect 1 listed seven exemption categories from a law-firm alert and said they reached “beyond” the IEEPA exclusions; it now lists all thirteen from ¶ 14 of the proclamation, without the comparison. An uncited sentence in effect 2 saying higher IEEPA country rates “compress” to 10 percent is removed.¹