Trump Administration Imposes 10%-12.5% Tariffs on 60 Trading Partners Over Forced Labour Allegations

The number of trading partners varies between 60 and 80, depending on the source.

The exact effective date of the tariffs is mentioned as July 24 in some sources, while others refer to it as taking effect on Friday.

The rate of tariffs is mentioned as ranging from 10% to 12.5%, with some sources specifying that certain countries face higher rates.

Imposed citing forced labour concerns, the levies replace a temporary global duty brought in after the US Supreme Court struck down tariffs in February.

Measures replace 10% global duty and come after supreme court declared many of the earlier tariffs illegal. Plus, how secondhand fashion got so expensive Good morning. Donald Trump has imposed a fresh round of tariffs on more than 80 countries to replace a 10% global duty that was due to expire, provoking a wave of criticism and protests from US allies and trading partners. What is Trump’s justification for the tariffs? The newest tariffs, announced late last night by the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, would fall under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, aimed against countries that engage in forced labor. Trump had said his administration would investigate unfair trading practices to impose permanent tariffs as soon as the February supreme court decision was announced. How have the affected countries reacted to the news? The ‘forced labour’ rationale for Trump tariffs has been met with bewilderment, with some saying their labor laws are stronger than those in the US. How are the authorities responding? Last week, Bill Essayli, an assistant US attorney, asked the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the cluster to determine if there is an environmental cause. Continue reading...

Australia and the European Union were among U.S. trade partners who condemned the tariffs.

Starting this Friday, the United States will impose new tariffs on imports from 60 trading partners, covering 99 percent of all goods entering the country. The new measures replace the temporary 10 percent global tariff introduced 150 days ago after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's previous sweeping tariff plan. The administration says the latest tariffs are aimed at addressing concerns over goods produced with forced labour. Peter O'Brien reports.

The Trump administration has imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including the EU and China, over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labor bans, just as a temporary 10% global tariff expired.

The United States said on Thursday that it would impose new tariffs on 60 trading partners, including Pakistan, India, China and the European Union, over forced labour concerns, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out by US President Donald Trump earlier this year. The levies, effective Friday, range from 10 per cent to 12.5pc. “The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. He earlier added that targeted economies represent the majority of US trade. The Trump administration has moved swiftly to rebuild the president’s tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a host of his duties in February — dealing a blow to his ability to unleash steep levies at will. After the setback, Trump tapped different authorities to reimpose a 10pc tariff on imports. But this only lasts 150 days, expiring Friday. The volley of new duties, initially proposed in June, will now take its place.The measures were planned after a months-long investigation and are considered more resistant to legal challenges than earlier moves. Under the final determination, the US will impose a 10pc duty on goods of Argentina, Bangladesh, Britain, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago. The European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland were assigned rates that, combined with pre-existing most-favored-nation tariff rates, would total 10pc or 12.5pc. The other 38 countries, including China, were assigned a 12.5pc rate. The new levies received swift condemnation from target countries. Japanese government spokesman Minoru Kihara said Tokyo “regrets” the tariffs, given the higher rate is “solely on the grounds that there is no ban on the import of products produced through forced labour”. Australia’s trade minister Don Farrell decried the tariffs as “unjustified,” arguing they were “inconsistent with our free trade agreement, and should be removed”. Goods already facing sector-specific tariffs — like steel and aluminum — will not be impacted. Certain energy products and fertilisers will be exempt too, alongside goods covered by the US-Mexico-Canada free trade pact, a US official told reporters. It is worth mentioning that Islamabad had submitted detailed responses to the USTR, including another submission ahead of trade talks earlier this month regarding the forced labour investigations. Maintaining leverage Washington is separately investigating 16 economies over excess industrial capacity, in probes that could lead to additional duties. These could result in varying rates among countries eventually, experts warn. The Trump administration’s move to impose a baseline tariff while sustaining the threat of further duties maintains leverage over its trading partners, trade lawyer Greta Peisch told AFP. It also creates an incentive for countries to comply with trade pacts that they earlier struck, she added. In spending time on investigations, officials want their incoming tariffs to be robust if there are court challenges, said Peisch, a former general counsel for the Office of the US Trade Representative, who is now a partner at Wiley Rein. “This makes it much more likely that they stay for the duration of Trump’s term,” signaling a “much more protectionist world’s largest economy” moving forward, Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council told AFP. Resurrecting tariffs boosts government revenues too, he added. ‘Fragile’ deals The latest salvo comes shortly after a 25pc tariff took effect on various Brazilian goods, as Washington accused the Latin American giant of unfair trade practices. This week, Trump also ordered new 50-percent tariffs on many Canadian products, citing Ottawa’s “discriminatory treatment” of American alcohol, automobiles and dairy products. The Canadian tariffs taking effect in a month rely on an untested legal provision, showing that Trump has other tools to swiftly wield, said Lipsky. This signals that US tariff deals “are still fragile,” he said. Nonetheless, the EU, which has signed a trade pact, expects that Washington “will honour the commitments that are spelled out under the EU-US Joint Statement”.

Tariffs ranging from 10%-12.5%, taking effect on Friday, are US president’s latest effort to circumvent Congress Just before a temporary levy on global imports was set to expire, the Trump administration issued a fresh wave of tariffs on more than 80 countries late on Thursday, ranging from 10% to 12.5%. The new tariffs take effect Friday morning. It’s Donald Trump’s latest effort to continue imposing global levies without congressional approval, despite the supreme court ruling in February that found the US president had illegally used his executive power to implement his global trade policies. Trump has long maintained that the US has been paying more than its fair share in tariffs, and that increased duties are necessary to boost American manufacturing and jobs. Continue reading...

With existing 10 percent levies set to expire, Trump issues new tariffs on 60 countries under forced labour provision.

The tariffs target around 60 trading partners over claims they failed to properly stop forced labour.

The levies, which take effect July 24, range from 10% to 12.5% and impact major economies like China, India and the European Union

The Trump administration will impose new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners, including the EU, over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labour bans, senior administration officials said.

The Trump administration is going ahead with new double-digit tariffs on dozens of US trading partners.

The Trump administration is going ahead with new double-digit tariffs on dozens of US trading partners.

US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from 60 countries on Thursday, replacing temporary levies that expire on Friday after the Supreme Court struck down his earlier trade measures. The White House said the duties target countries that have failed to curb imports made with forced labour.