The White House is weighing a new round of national-security tariffs on several industries after a Supreme Court ruling last week struck down many of President Trump’s second-term levies, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

The administration is considering launching Section 232 investigations that could lead to tariffs on industries, including large-scale batteries, cast iron and iron fittings, plastic piping, industrial chemicals, and power grid and telecom equipment, the Journal said. 

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 allows the president to impose tariffs on national-security grounds following Commerce Department investigations.

The contemplated measures would be in addition to the new global 15-percent tariff that the administration says can remain in place for five months, as well as additional levies planned after that period under Section 301 of the Trade Act, the Journal said.

Products covered by Section 232 tariffs have so far been exempt from Trump’s other second-term levies, the newspaper said. Trump has already used Section 232 in his second term to impose tariffs on sectors including steel, aluminum, copper, cars, trucks, and auto parts, and those duties are not affected by the Supreme Court ruling. 

The timing of any new Commerce Department investigations and eventual tariffs remains unclear, according to the Journal, which noted Section 232 requires lengthy investigative processes, though tariffs can later be adjusted unilaterally by the president once in place.

The White House was already considering national-security tariffs on nine other industries under existing Section 232 probes, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, drones, industrial robots, and polysilicon used in solar panels, and could accelerate some of that work in response to the Supreme Court decision, the Journal reported.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal