A new wave of US tariffs targeting 60 trading partners took effect on Friday, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
The levies, which range from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent and impact major economies like China, India and the European Union, sparked protests from Beijing and other targets.
“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,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
He earlier said that the targeted economies represent the majority of US trade.
The Trump administration has moved swiftly to rebuild the president’s tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a host of his duties in February — dealing a blow to his ability to unleash steep levies at will.
After the setback, Trump tapped different authorities to reimpose a 10 per cent tariff on imports. But this only lasted 150 days and expired on Friday.
The volley of new duties, initially proposed in June, now takes its place.
The measures were planned after a months-long investigation and are considered more resistant to legal challenges than earlier moves.
Under Thursday’s announcement, economies that have implemented a forced labour import prohibition or committed to do so were hit with the lower 10 per cent rate. They include Canada, the EU, India and the United Kingdom.
China, Japan, South Korea and dozens of others were deemed to deserve the higher 12.5 per cent tariff.
But the EU, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland received some relief in line with trade pacts they previously reached with the United States.
The new levies received swift condemnation from target countries, with Japan saying it “regrets” the duties and Australia’s trade minister calling them “unjustified.”
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Beijing opposed “all forms of unilateral tariff measures” and warned that trade wars were “not in the interests of any party”.
The EU expressed relief after the announcement, saying the new levies were “in line with the US tariff commitments agreed under the EU-US Joint Statement”.
Goods already facing sector-specific tariffs like steel and aluminium will not be impacted.
Certain energy products and fertilisers will also be exempt, alongside products covered by the US-Mexico-Canada free trade pact, a US official told reporters.
