United States President Donald Trump has imposed fresh tariffs on imports from 60 trading partners, including China, the European Union and Japan, citing what his administration describes as inadequate enforcement of bans on goods produced with forced labour.
The new duties, which took effect on Friday, range from 10% to 12.5% and replace the temporary 10% global tariff that expired at 12:01 a.m. EDT.
The move marks the White House’s latest effort to rebuild Trump’s broad tariff strategy after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his earlier “reciprocal” tariffs in February. Unlike the previous measures, the new duties are being imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a legal framework that has survived previous court challenges.
According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the tariffs cover about 99.4% of all U.S. imports.
However, several key products are exempt, including oil and gas, fertilizers, aircraft and aircraft parts, critical minerals, selected food items, and goods already subject to separate national security tariffs such as steel, aluminium, copper and automobiles.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the action was aimed at addressing both human rights concerns and what Washington considers unfair trade practices.
“The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century and rigorously enforces it. It’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” Greer said.
Countries including Argentina, Bangladesh, Britain, Canada, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Pakistan were assigned a 10% tariff, while many others face a 12.5% rate.
The European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Switzerland received tariff levels that, when combined with existing most-favoured-nation duties, remain within previously agreed ceilings of either 10% or 12.5%.
China is among the countries facing the higher tariff rate despite ongoing trade talks with Washington.
The U.S. continues to accuse Beijing of using forced labour involving Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang, allegations China has repeatedly denied.
Several governments pushed back against Washington’s decision.
Australia, Brazil and Norway criticised the tariffs as unjustified, while Canada said it would continue discussions with the United States in an effort to resolve the dispute.
The European Commission acknowledged that the new measures remain within the tariff limits agreed under the recent EU-U.S. joint trade statement and said they provide momentum for further negotiations on exemptions.
Britain also welcomed the outcome, saying the latest action would not worsen trading conditions for UK businesses.
“There is no negative change to the tariff rate facing UK businesses. Our agreement with the U.S. remains in place, and we continue to benefit from zero tariffs on products including whisky and medical technology,” a UK government spokesperson said.
Trade analysts said the move had been widely anticipated and is unlikely to cause major disruption because of the broad list of exemptions.
They also noted that the administration expanded the exclusion list by hundreds of additional products, softening the overall impact on businesses.
While most financial markets showed little immediate reaction, the tariffs add another layer of uncertainty to global trade as tensions in the Middle East continue to dominate investor sentiment.
