Trump administration to impose new global tariffs as previous ones expire
The Trump administration on Friday will impose new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners, including the European Union, over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labor bans, just as a temporary 10% global tariff expires, senior administration officials said on Thursday.
The move is the White House’s latest effort to restore President Donald Trump’s campaign vision of a near-global tariff after the U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down his “reciprocal” duties of 10% to 50% imposed last year under a national emergencies law to try to shrink the U.S. trade deficit.
Trump responded to that ruling by imposing a temporary 10% tariff for 150 days that expires at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Friday (0401 GMT), invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law meant to quell balance of payments crises. The new duties will take effect at that exact same moment, with goods in transit exempted until 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 28.
A senior Trump administration official disputed suggestions that the forced labor tariffs — invoked under the 1974 law’s Section 301 — were simply a direct replacement for the expiring levies despite the timing, similar duty rates and vast coverage of nearly all U.S. imports.
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