White House Replaces Struck Down IEEPA Diamond Tariffs With Section 122 Surcharge

The White House moved on Feb 24, 2026 to replace the administration’s IEEPA‑based diamond tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down those measures, installing a temporary import surcharge under Section 122 of the Trade Act. The pivot swaps the legal authority underpinning U.S. diamond import restrictions from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the trade statute that provides for temporary adjustment duties.

The Supreme Court decision invalidated the IEEPA route for the diamond tariffs that had been in force, removing the administration’s emergency powers basis for the duties. Confronted with that ruling, the administration invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act to reimpose a temporary surcharge on diamond imports, signaling an immediate administrative response to preserve the policy outcome of restricting certain imports while moving to a different statutory framework.

Section 122 of the Trade Act was used to frame the new measure as a temporary import surcharge rather than an IEEPA emergency tariff. By citing Section 122, the administration places the surcharge on trade-act footing; the measure is explicitly temporary and tied to the mechanisms available under the Trade Act for adjusting imports. That distinction changes the statutory path and administrative procedures the government will follow as it implements collection and enforcement at ports of entry.

For U.S. diamond dealers, cutters, retail jewelers, and importers, the administrative substitution means that the duties they had accounted for under the IEEPA tariffs will now be collected under the Section 122 surcharge regime. The change preserves the existence of duties while shifting the legal rationale that will determine how long they remain and how they may be reviewed by courts or adjusted by the administration.

The choice to replace struck-down IEEPA tariffs with a Section 122 surcharge tightens the timeline for legal and commercial responses. The surcharge is temporary under the Trade Act framework, and industry participants will need to monitor forthcoming federal guidance on tariff rates, implementation procedures, and any administrative determinations that accompany Section 122 actions. The White House action on Feb 24, 2026 keeps diamond import restrictions in force while the administration pursues trade-act authority.