The White House unveiled a fresh round of tariffs on Friday, hitting 60 countries, including major partners like China and the European Union, with duties of 10% and 12.5%. The move, tied to allegations that trading partners are failing to enforce bans on forced labour, landed the same day a temporary 10% global tariff expired.
This latest push is Washington’s attempt to keep alive President Trump’s broader vision of a near-universal tariff regime, after the US Supreme Court struck down his earlier “reciprocal” duties, which had ranged from 10% to 50%, back in February. Those duties had been imposed under emergency powers legislation aimed at narrowing the US trade deficit.
Trump New Tariffs Cover Nearly All US Imports
While trading partners had anticipated some form of new tariff action, many pushed back hard against the forced labour justification behind it. A few countries noted the change would barely affect the tariffs they already pay. Markets, meanwhile, showed little reaction, staying focused instead on tensions in the Middle East.
Detailed in a Federal Register notice, the new duties apply to roughly 99.4% of all US imports, though a long list of exemptions covers goods such as oil, gas, fertiliser, and select food products.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the move, noting that America’s forced labour import ban has stood for close to a century and is strictly enforced. He argued it’s time for trading partners to match that standard, framing the action as a correction to both a human rights problem and an unfair trade practice meant to benefit workers globally.
Legal Footing Under Section 301
Unlike the tariffs the Supreme Court struck down, this round relies on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a legal pathway that has withstood past court challenges. That gives the administration a more durable way to keep a near-universal tariff floor in place despite February’s setback.
The prior temporary 10% global tariff lapsed at 12:01 am EDT Friday, exactly 150 days after it began, with the new duties kicking in at that same moment. Goods already in transit get a grace period, remaining exempt until 12:01 am EDT on July 28.
Which Countries Face the New Rates
A 10% duty now applies to imports from Argentina, Bangladesh, Britain, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland landed at a combined rate of 10% or 12.5%, once existing most-favoured-nation tariffs are factored in. Another 38 countries, including Vietnam and China, were assigned the higher 12.5% rate. Vietnam, notably, just issued a new decree this week tightening its own rules against importing forced labour-made goods.
Greer had earlier promised that countries with existing trade deals capping US tariff rates wouldn’t see those caps exceeded by the new forced labour duties, a commitment the EU specifically acknowledged in its response.
Mixed Reactions From Trading Partners
A European Commission spokesperson welcomed the outcome as consistent with tariff commitments under the EU-US Joint Statement, adding it builds positive momentum toward further exemptions and deeper cooperation. Switzerland, while disputing the forced labour allegations against it, similarly acknowledged that the US honored its prior commitment capping Swiss tariffs at 12.5%.
Britain struck an upbeat tone, with a government spokesperson stating the change brings no negative impact to UK businesses, and actually improves trading terms by zeroing out tariffs on whisky and medical technology.
China, by contrast, condemned the move sharply. Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters Beijing opposes all unilateral tariff actions, warning that tariff and trade wars serve no one’s interests. China was assigned the highest rate among the 60 countries affected.
US officials have reportedly told their Chinese counterparts they intend to gradually raise tariffs on Chinese goods back to the 20% level agreed upon in the November 2025 trade truce between Trump and President Xi Jinping, without exceeding that ceiling. Before Friday’s announcement, China’s rate had dropped to 10%, not counting a separate 25% tariff on industrial goods dating to Trump’s first term.
Australia and Brazil both called the new tariffs unjustified and said they’d push for their removal. Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide argued there was no basis for tariffs against his country, pointing to existing rules already barring forced labour goods. Canada, which was hit earlier this week with separate tariffs on $20 billion in goods, offered a more measured response, with trade minister Dominic LeBlanc saying Ottawa would keep engaging constructively with Washington on this and other issues.
Exemptions Offer Relief to Some Industries
Kelly Ann Shaw, a former White House trade adviser during Trump’s first term now with law firm Akin Gump, said the new tariffs largely matched what had already been signaled, though the administration added roughly 471 products to its exclusion list. She characterized the overall economic impact as close to the status quo.
Beyond the general product exemptions, goods already covered under Section 232 national security tariffs, including autos, steel, aluminium, and copper, are excluded, as are aircraft, aircraft parts, and critical minerals.
Some sectors came out ahead. The Antwerp World Diamond Centre called the restored exemption a major win for Belgium’s diamond industry, which exported $2.1 billion worth of polished diamonds to the US in 2024. That exemption had lapsed after the Supreme Court’s February ruling against Trump’s global tariffs.
As the dust settles on this round of Trump’s new tariffs, trading partners are expected to keep pressing Washington on exemptions and trade terms in the weeks ahead, even as legal challenges to the broader tariff strategy continue to loom.
