10% Tariff Ends, Trump Imposes New Duties on 60 Trading Partners
The Trump administration on Friday (24/07) imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union and China, over the issue of weak enforcement of forced labour bans, just as the temporary 10% global tariff expired.
The move is the White House’s latest effort to revive President Donald Trump’s campaign vision of near-universal worldwide tariffs, after the US Supreme Court in February struck down the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs of 10% to 50% imposed last year under national emergency legislation in an attempt to reduce the US trade deficit.
The new tariffs, announced on Thursday (23/07) in a Federal Register notice, cover 99.4% of US imports but include a number of product exemptions, such as oil and gas, fertilisers and certain foodstuffs.
The tariffs range from 10% to 12.5% and affect major economies such as China, India and the European Union.
‘The United States has banned imports of goods made with forced labour for nearly a century, and enforced it rigorously; it is high time our trading partners did the same,’ said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
‘Today’s action will begin to remedy what is both a human rights violation and harmful trade practice, in order to improve the welfare of workers everywhere,’ he added.
EU taken aback by US action
The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, on Friday called President Trump’s move ‘an unpleasant surprise’ and said the bloc would seek clarification from Washington. Speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Manila, the Philippines, Kallas insisted that allegations the EU is weak on enforcing labour regulations are unfounded.
‘If you compare our labour laws with those in the United States, I mean, we have paid leave, we have very good working conditions for our employees, so these accusations are not really well founded.’
Noting that the bloc had fulfilled its obligations under the transatlantic trade agreement concluded with the US last year, Kallas expressed her surprise at the latest move: ‘We have a deal with America and we have complied with that deal, parts of that deal. That’s why this is an unpleasant surprise that this agreement is not being honoured.’
Global reaction to the new US tariffs
Brazil, whose exports to the United States will face a 12.5% tariff under the new policy, condemned the decision as ‘entirely arbitrary’ and ‘unjustified’.
The Brazilian government said it would immediately begin procedures to apply retaliatory measures under its ‘Reciprocity Law’ and file a dispute through the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism.
In Australia, Defence Minister Richard Marles told ABC Radio the new tariffs were ‘nonsensical’ and that the government was disappointed by the move. Under the policy, duties on Australian products will rise from 10% to 12.5%.
Japan also expressed ‘regret’ over the policy. A government spokesman said Japanese industry and trade operate in accordance with international rules.
‘Japanese industry and trade are conducted in accordance with international rules. Japan regrets that this latest measure imposes tariffs on Japan solely because there is no ban on importing products made through forced labour,’ said Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara.
Trump’s new wave of global tariffs
The move is President Trump’s latest attempt to revive his global tariff agenda after the US Supreme Court struck down the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs he announced last February.
In response, Trump imposed a temporary 10% tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, designed to address balance-of-payments crises. That tariff ran for 150 days and was due to expire on Friday.
The White House is expected to use a new legal basis to impose the additional tariffs.
Trump is now relying on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorises the president to impose tariffs and other sanctions on countries found to be engaging in trade practices deemed ‘unjustifiable’, ‘unreasonable’ or ‘discriminatory’.
Separately, the Trump administration is also investigating 16 countries over alleged industrial overcapacity. According to experts, those investigations could lead to additional tariffs in the future.