WASHINGTON, July 24 — The United States (US) imposed new tariffs of 10 per cent and 12.5 per cent on goods from 60 trading partners on Friday, including Europe and China, over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labour bans, just as a temporary 10 per cent global tariff expired.
The move is the White House's latest effort to restore President Donald Trump's vision of a near-global tariff after the US Supreme Court in February struck down his "reciprocal" duties of 10 per cent to 50 per cent imposed under a national emergencies law to try to shrink the US trade deficit.
New tariffs had been expected, but trade partners around the world strongly disputed the justification for them. However, some noted that they would make little difference to current levies.
There was little early reaction in financial markets, which were more focused on the Middle East conflict.
The new tariffs, announced in a US Federal Register notice, cover 99.4 per cent of US imports, but include numerous product exemptions, such as oil and gas, fertiliser, and certain food items.
"The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it. It is well past time for our trading partners to do the same
"Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and a distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
Imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the new duties allow the administration to maintain a tariff floor on virtually all US imports despite the Supreme Court setback. The tariffs are also likely to face less legal risk as Section 301 has survived prior court challenges.
Trump's temporary 10 per cent global tariff expired at 12.01am EDT on Friday (0401 GMT) after 150 days. The new duties took effect at that exact same moment, with goods in transit exempted until 12.01am EDT on July 28.
The US imposed a 10 per cent duty on goods of Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom (UK).
The European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland were assigned rates that, combined with pre-existing most-favoured-nation tariff rates, totalled 10 per cent or 12.5 per cent.
The other 38 countries were assigned a 12.5 per cent rate. These include Vietnam, which issued a new decree this week that sets out more detailed rules banning imports of goods made with forced labour, and China — accused by the US of detaining Uyghur minorities in work camps, which Beijing denies.
Greer previously pledged that for countries with trade deals with Washington capping US tariff rates, the new forced labour duties would not push them above those caps — a point which the EU noted in its response.
"The EU notes positively the fact that this outcome is in line with the US tariff commitments agreed under the EU-US Joint Statement," said a European Commission spokesman, adding that it provided "positive momentum" to continue the work on exploring further tariff exemptions and deepening cooperation.
While disputing the allegations underlying the forced labour investigation, the Swiss government also said the US was adhering to past commitments on tariff ceilings, in its case of up to 12.5 per cent.
The UK said the move would have no negative effects.
"There is no negative change to the tariff rate facing UK businesses as a result of this announcement. Our agreement with the US remains in place, and today we see an improvement to our trading terms with zero tariffs on whisky and medical technology," a government spokesman said.
Trump administration officials have told Chinese counterparts they intend to rebuild Trump's second-term tariffs on Chinese goods back up to the 20 per cent that was agreed upon in a trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2025 — but not exceed that level. Prior to Friday's action, China's tariff rate had fallen to 10 per cent, excluding the 25 per cent imposed during Trump's first term on industrial goods.
Widely telegraphed move with exemptions
The action drew stronger protests from some trade partners.
Australia and Brazil described the new tariffs as unjustified and said they would seek to have them removed, while Norway said there was "no basis" for them.
Canada — hit on Monday with new Trump tariffs on US$20 billion (RM81.84 billion) worth of goods — issued a muted response.
"We will continue engaging constructively with the US on this matter, as well as other outstanding issues, over the coming weeks to the mutual benefit of our citizens," said its minister in charge of US trade Dominic LeBlanc.
Former White House trade adviser and law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner Kelly Ann Shaw, who served during Trump's first term, said the new tariffs tracked what had been telegraphed, although some changes had been made, including the addition of some 471 products to an exclusion list.
"I think this is more status quo in terms of the economic impact," she said.
An official said that many goods will be exempted from the duties, including oil and gas, fertiliser, certain foodstuffs, and goods already subject to Section 232 national security tariffs, such as autos, steel, aluminium, and copper. Aircraft and parts will also be exempted, along with critical minerals.
There were some winners, such as the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, which said the restored exemption was significant news for the local diamond sector. Belgium exported US$2.1 billion (RM8.59 billion) of polished diamonds to the United States in 2024.
The exemption had lapsed after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump's global tariffs in February.
