Trump imposes new double-digit tariffs on 60 countries
US President Donald Trump is imposing tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent on imports from 60 countries, citing inadequate enforcement of forced labour product bans. The new duties take effect as temporary worldwide tariffs expire.
President Donald Trump is proceeding with new double-digit tariffs on 60 trading partners of the United States, just as the temporary stopgap levies expire on Friday. The new tariffs, ranging from 10 to 12.5 percent, apply to imports from countries that account for 99 percent of US imports, on the grounds that they have not adequately enforced bans on goods produced by forced labour.
“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,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Thursday.
The new tariffs take effect as the temporary 10 percent worldwide tariffs expire at 12:01am Friday in Washington, DC (04:01 GMT). Trump had turned to those temporary levies after the Supreme Court in February struck down his biggest and boldest tariffs.
Now he is using more durable tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose import taxes against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable”, “unreasonable”, or “discriminatory” trade practices. Trump used Section 301 to impose large tariffs on China during his first term, and they survived court challenges.
More Section 301 tariffs may be coming: Greer’s office has launched a probe into whether 16 countries – representing 70 percent of US imports – have overproduced goods, pushing down prices and putting US companies at a disadvantage. That investigation has not yet been completed.
Trump, who argues that high tariffs will revive US manufacturing, last year overturned decades of US policy favouring lower tariffs and freer trade. He had previously invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 to impose double-digit tariffs, but the Supreme Court ruled that IEEPA did not authorise tariffs, forcing the administration to pay refunds to importers. In response, Trump announced 10 percent worldwide tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, but that authority is limited to 150 days, which expires on Friday.
