Trump Imposes New Tariffs on 60 Nations, Citing Forced Labor

The Trump administration imposed a sweeping new round of tariffs on 60 of America's largest trading partners early Friday, replacing a temporary global levy that had just expired and invoking a decades-old trade law to put the measures on more durable legal footing.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the tariffs late Thursday, saying the targeted countries had failed to adopt or enforce adequate bans on goods produced with forced labor. The duties — set at 10 percent for nations that have adopted such prohibitions but not enforced them, and 12.5 percent for those that have not adopted them at all — cover countries and economies responsible for more than 99 percent of all goods imported into the United States.

Countries hit with the higher 12.5 percent rate include Australia, China, South Korea, Singapore, Brazil, Russia and Japan. Nations placed in the lower 10 percent tier include the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Mexico and Indonesia.

The new tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, timed precisely to coincide with the expiration of a temporary 10 percent worldwide tariff Trump had imposed after the Supreme Court struck down his earlier, broader tariff regime in February. The court had ruled those levies — enacted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — were unlawful. The new duties rely instead on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which grants the president authority to sanction countries engaged in unfair trade practices, a standard the administration contends will be harder for courts to overturn.

"Today's action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere," Greer said in a statement.

Trading partners around the world rejected the forced-labor rationale as a pretext. Australia's Trade Minister Don Farrell called the 12.5 percent tariff on Australian exports "unjustified" and said his country's anti-slavery laws were "among the strongest in the world." New Zealand's prime minister called the decision "extremely disappointing." The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, questioned how the EU — with its paid vacation requirements and extensive labor protections — could be accused of tolerating forced labor.

Brazil called the tariffs "arbitrary" and said it would look to other markets if U.S. access was blocked. China's Foreign Ministry said "tariff wars and trade wars do not serve any parties' interests."

No major trading partner announced retaliatory measures.

Critics in the United States also challenged the administration's stated rationale. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., accused the administration of using forced labor as cover to reconstruct its illegal tariff regime. Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., wrote that Trump was "trying to make an end-run around the Supreme Court and Congress."

The administration simultaneously announced that U.S. tariffs on Scotch whisky would fall to zero, a benefit for the United Kingdom that officials called a boost to one of Britain's most iconic export industries.

The tariffs carry significant economic implications. The CEO of Indian generic drugmaker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories warned that proposed tariffs on pharmaceuticals — announced separately earlier this week — would drive up medicine costs for American patients. Economists noted that U.S. households had already seen costs climb as a result of earlier trade measures.

A person close to the White House, speaking anonymously, told Politico: "Everything that you are not focused on affordability is not helpful."

The latest trade action underscored Trump's continued commitment to using tariffs as a central economic and diplomatic tool, even as public opinion polling shows declining approval for his handling of trade policy, and as the Iran war sends oil and energy prices higher — adding another inflationary pressure on American consumers.