As a temporary US tariff deadline hits, the Trump administration is rolling out a fresh set of import duties aimed at 60 trading partners — including the European Union — accusing them of failing to properly police bans on goods made with forced labour, according to senior administration officials.
The shift lands at a pivotal moment, coming just as a temporary 10% global tariff runs out.
The new action marks the White House’s latest bid to revive President Donald Trump’s campaign push for a near-universal tariff regime after the US Supreme Court in February invalidated his so-called “reciprocal” duties, which ranged from 10% to 50% and were imposed last year under a national emergencies law in an effort to reduce the US trade deficit.
In response to that ruling, Mr Trump put in place a stopgap 10% tariff for 150 days — set to expire tonight (05.01am Irish time) — using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, legislation designed to address balance of payments crises.
Those temporary levies will be replaced immediately. The administration said the new tariffs — set at 10% and 12.5% — will begin at the exact moment the temporary rate expires, while goods already in transit will be exempted until 12.01am eastern time on 28 July.
“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,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said as he announced the new duties.
A senior Trump administration official rejected claims that the forced labour tariffs — issued under Section 301 of the 1974 law — are merely a one-for-one substitute for the expiring measures, despite their timing, the similar rates and the sweeping reach across nearly all US imports.
Read more: Trump orders new 50% tariff on many Canadian goods
The official argued that the United States maintains tougher prohibitions on imports tied to forced labour and enforces those rules more strictly than any other country, a gap the administration says gives overseas competitors an unfair edge.
On Capitol Hill, the official noted, lawmakers from both parties have been pressing to eliminate forced labour from global supply chains — “so we’re really responding to that call.”
The official also said Mr Trump would “always use the tools at his disposal to achieve his trade policy objectives, and that includes tariffs”.
