The Trump administration has announced to impose new tariffs just after midnight local time Friday on dozens of countries over alleged forced labor violations, as per a notice in the Federal Register.
The notice mentioned the tariffs set between 10 to 12 percent will effectively replace Donald Trump’s temporary 10 percent global tariffs, which are set to expire at the same time as the new ones come in effect.
Under the new tariffs an umbrella of 60 trade partners and 99.4% of U.S. trade will be covered the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.The tariffs are being imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, one of trade tools Trump has wielded since the Supreme Court struck down his global “liberation day” duties on Feb. 20.
The move “is the most sweeping international labor rights action the United States has ever taken — that any country has ever taken,” a senior Trump administration official told in a media briefing. He highlighted that the new tariffs would not “stack” on top of existing import taxes on steel and aluminum, known as “Section 232” duties, that Trump imposed last year on national-security grounds.
This is the second time the Trump administration has revised its tarrifs. Earlier it imposed 25% tax on most US imports from Brazil and 50% tariffs on goods from Canada, the later already imposed while the former set to begin next month.
The proposed tariffs were hinted in June after concluding that the targeted countries failed to effectively ban the use of forced-labor practices in trade with the U.S.