Washington. The United States on Friday imposed new tariffs of 10 percent and 12.5 percent on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union and China, accusing them of failing to curb imports linked to forced labour.
The move came as a temporary 10 percent global tariff expired, marking the White House’s first step towards rebuilding President Donald Trump’s near-global tariff framework after the US Supreme Court in February struck down his “reciprocal” duties ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent.
The tariffs, imposed under a national emergencies law aimed at reducing the US trade deficit, had been introduced last year.
The new duties had been widely expected, but trading partners around the world disputed the justification for the measures. Some, however, said the changes would have little impact on existing tariffs or could even represent a slight improvement.
Bond yields edged higher as the tariffs increased concerns over inflation, although market reaction remained limited as investors focused more on the conflict in the Middle East.
The new tariffs, announced through a Federal Register notice, cover 99.4 percent of US imports, although several products are exempt, including oil and gas, fertiliser and certain food items.
The US government said its trading partners had failed to prevent goods produced using forced labour from entering supply chains, allegations that the affected countries have rejected.
“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,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.
“Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and a distortive trade practice, improving the welfare of workers everywhere,” he added.
The new duties were introduced under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, allowing the administration to maintain a tariff floor on almost all US imports despite the Supreme Court ruling.
The tariffs are also expected to face fewer legal challenges because Section 301 has survived previous court disputes.
President Trump’s temporary 10 percent global tariff expired at 12:01am Eastern Daylight Time on Friday after 150 days.
The new duties took effect at the same time, although goods already in transit were exempt until 12:01am on July 28.
Tariff details
The US imposed a 10 percent tariff on goods from Argentina, Bangladesh, Britain, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Washington said the countries had either introduced or planned to introduce bans on forced labour imports but had failed to effectively enforce them.
The European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland were assigned rates that, combined with existing most-favoured-nation tariff rates, amounted to between 10 percent and 12.5 percent.
The remaining 38 countries were assigned a 12.5 percent rate. They include Vietnam, which introduced new rules this week outlining stricter measures against imports produced using forced labour, and China, which Washington has accused of detaining Uyghur minorities in alleged work camps — a claim Beijing denies.
Mr Greer had previously said countries with trade agreements limiting US tariff rates would not face duties exceeding those limits.
The European Union welcomed the move, saying it aligned with tariff commitments agreed under its trade statement with Washington.
“The EU notes positively the fact that this outcome is in line with the US tariff commitments agreed under the EU-US Joint Statement,” a European Commission spokesperson said, adding that it created “positive momentum” for further cooperation and possible tariff exemptions.
French Trade Minister Nicolas Forissier said that although the legal basis of the tariffs raised questions, the move provided greater certainty for businesses.
Switzerland, while rejecting the allegations behind the forced labour investigation, said the US had respected previous tariff ceilings, including a maximum rate of 12.5 percent.
Former EU chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero, now a senior fellow at think tank Bruegel, said Washington appeared to have ensured the new tariffs respected the EU-US trade agreement.
However, he warned that additional tariffs could follow from another Section 301 investigation into excess production capacity targeting 16 trading partners, including the EU, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland.
Britain, which is not part of the second investigation, said the new tariffs would not have negative effects.
“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 spokesperson said.
The British Chamber of Commerce described the move as mixed, welcoming the removal of tariffs on whisky and lower rates on steel, but warning that British exporters could lose advantages compared with competitors from the EU and other countries.
Trade partners push back
The move triggered stronger criticism from some affected countries.
China said it opposed all unilateral tariffs, arguing that trade wars benefited no one.
Trump administration officials have told Chinese counterparts that they intend to restore tariffs on Chinese goods to 20 percent, as agreed during a trade truce with President Xi Jinping in November 2025, but not exceed that level.
Before Friday’s announcement, China’s tariff rate had fallen to 10 percent, excluding the 25 percent duties imposed during Mr Trump’s first term on industrial goods.
Australia and Brazil described the tariffs as unjustified and said they would seek their removal, while Norway said there was no basis for the measures.
Canada, which faced new US tariffs on $20 billion worth of goods earlier in the week, issued a cautious response.
“We will continue engaging constructively with the United States on this matter, as well as other outstanding issues, over the coming weeks to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” Canada’s minister responsible for US trade, Dominic LeBlanc, said.
Kelly Ann Shaw, a former White House trade adviser, said the tariffs largely reflected measures that had already been announced, although some changes had been made, including adding 471 products to an exclusion list.
“I think this is more status quo in terms of the economic impact,” she said.
Many goods remain exempt from the tariffs, including oil and gas, fertiliser, certain food products and items already covered under Section 232 national security tariffs, such as vehicles, steel, aluminium and copper.
Aircraft and aircraft parts, as well as critical minerals, were also excluded.
The move also created some beneficiaries.
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre said the restoration of an exemption was significant for Belgium’s diamond sector, which exported $2.1 billion worth of polished diamonds to the US in 2024.
