section 201

Section 201 is part of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 and authorizes the president to impose temporary import restrictions—tariffs, quotas, or tariff-rate quotas—when a surge of imports is found to be a substantial cause of serious injury to a domestic industry. Unlike antidumping or countervailing duty actions, Section 201 does not require a finding of unfair trade practice; the imports may be entirely fair, but still injurious due to volume.

The process begins with a petition (from an industry, a union, a member of Congress, or the U.S. Trade Representative) filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). The USITC conducts an injury investigation, typically within 120 days, and if it finds injury, recommends a remedy to the president. The president has broad discretion to accept, modify, or reject the recommendation. Relief is generally limited to four years, extendable to a maximum of eight.

Because Section 201 measures are safeguards, they fall under the WTO Agreement on Safeguards (1995) and GATT Article XIX. Affected exporters may seek compensation, and if denied, retaliate—a frequent flashpoint at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.

Notable uses include the 2002 steel tariffs under President George W. Bush (struck down by a WTO panel in 2003 and lifted in December 2003), and the January 2018 tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on imported large residential washing machines and crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules. The solar safeguard was extended in February 2022 by President Biden for an additional four years.

Section 201 was heavily used in the 1970s and 1980s but fell into relative disuse after the WTO's creation, partly because the Appellate Body repeatedly found U.S. safeguards inconsistent with WTO disciplines. Its revival under the Trump administration marked a notable shift in U.S. trade policy, alongside parallel use of Section 232 (national security) and Section 301 (unfair foreign practices).