Decoding Section 122: The rarely used law behind Donald Trump’s new 15% global tariffs

Global trade usually feels like one of those topics people scroll past - full of complicated terms, policy talk, and numbers that make your head spin. But right now, it’s anything but boring. The reason? U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed global import tariffs up to 15%, and the bigger story isn’t just the tariffs themselves. It’s the surprising legal move that made them possible.After facing legal hurdles over earlier tariff plans, the administration reached back into history and pulled out something few people had even heard of - Section 122, a decades-old law from the 1970s that suddenly finds itself at the centre of global trade conversations.So what exactly is Section 122, and why is everyone talking about it now? To understand what happened, you have to start with the setbacks. Courts questioned the administration’s previous tariff approach, arguing that broad emergency powers were being stretched without clear approval from Congress.That left policymakers scrambling. They needed a faster, legally safer way to keep tariffs in place while figuring out a longer-term strategy. And that’s when Section 122 became the unexpected solution.Hidden inside the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, Section 122 gives the President temporary authority to impose an import surcharge — basically an additional tariff - of up to 15% on goods coming into the country.What makes this law unusual is how quickly it works. Most trade actions involve investigations, negotiations, and months of bureaucracy. Section 122 skips much of that process, allowing tariffs to be introduced almost immediately.Using this provision, the administration first rolled out a 10% tariff and then increased it to the full 15% allowed under the law.Back in the 1970s, lawmakers weren’t thinking about modern trade wars. Section 122 was designed as an emergency economic tool.It was meant for situations where the U.S. was importing far more than it was exporting - something economists call a balance-of-payments deficit. In simple terms, if too much money was flowing out of the country, the government needed a quick way to slow imports and stabilise the economy.Think of it as an economic emergency brake rather than a long-term policy plan.Here’s the important part - Section 122 powers don’t last forever.Tariffs introduced under this law can stay in place for only 150 days unless Congress steps in and approves an extension. Without that approval, the tariffs automatically expire. So while the 15% tariffs are active now, they’re technically temporary. The clock is already ticking.Economists and legal analysts are paying close attention because Section 122 hasn’t been widely used for sweeping global tariffs in modern times. Applying it on such a large scale could trigger new legal battles, especially since the law was originally meant for financial emergencies rather than broad trade disputes.For now, the tariffs remain in force. But whether they survive political and legal scrutiny is a question that may shape global trade in the months ahead.