Two things happened at 12:01 in the morning on Friday, and only one of them was reported.
The first: the across-the-board 10 percent import surcharge imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 terminated automatically. Section 122 comes with a 150-day cap written into the statute. The clock started February 24 and ran out on July 24. Congress did not extend it [2].
The second: new Section 301 tariffs took effect on 60 trading-partner economies the US Trade Representative determined had failed to prohibit or enforce prohibitions on forced-labor imports. Seventeen - including the United Kingdom, India, Mexico and Canada - at 10 percent. Thirty-eight, including China, Brazil, Vietnam and Russia, at 12.5 percent [1].
The difference between the two authorities is the whole story, and it is structural rather than rhetorical. Section 122 had a rate cap and a 150-day expiry, which is why it ended on its own. Section 301 has neither - no statutory ceiling on the rate, no date on which it lapses [2].
There is also a court record. The Court of International Trade ruled the Section 122 surcharge unlawful on May 7, 2026. The Federal Circuit stayed that ruling, and the question of refunds for duties already collected under it remains live in State of Oregon v. United States [2].
The sequence, laid end to end: a tariff is imposed, a court finds it unlawful, an appeals court pauses that finding, the tariff expires on its own statutory clock, and a replacement lands the same hour under an authority with no clock at all.
A note on the count, because outlets disagree. Some coverage says 'more than 80 countries.' The figure supported by the trade-policy sources is 60 economies. We use 60.
