Washington introduced new protective duties of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 countries – the United States' largest trading partners, including Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Canada and the European Union. The White House explained the decision by saying that these countries have not adopted or are not effectively enforcing a ban on the import of products produced using forced labor.
The new tariffs were introduced in accordance with Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Section 301 Trade Act). They replace a temporary 10% across-the-board tariff that expired on July 24 and are expected to be more resistant to lawsuits after the U.S. Supreme Court previously limited President Donald Trump's administration's use of emergency powers to impose similar tariffs.
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the measures apply to 60 economies, which account for 99.4% of American imports. The administration says the United States remains the only country with a nearly 100-year law ban on imports of goods made with forced labor, and it intends to seek similar measures from its trading partners.
In this case, the following measures do not fall within the scope of the measures:
- information materials;
- humanitarian aid;
- accompanied luggage;
- goods already subject to tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act (including some products from the steel and automobile industries);
- certain types of raw materials and products, the shortage of which could lead to supply disruptions in the United States;
- some goods not produced in sufficient quantities domestically;
- a number of other categories listed in the Federal Register.
- Countries were divided into two main categories.
The 10% duty is set for states that have already introduced a ban on the import of goods produced using forced labor, or have formally committed to do so as part of mutual trade agreements with the United States. This group included, in particular, Canada, Great Britain, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan, Bangladesh, Argentina and a number of Central American countries.
For the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Switzerland, a mixed regime is applied: some goods are subject to a rate of 10%, and some are subject to a rate of 12.5%, less the applicable most favored nation (MFN) rates. A detailed list of products is published in the Federal Register notice.
A duty of 12.5% was introduced for the remaining participants in the investigation, including Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, South Africa, Singapore and several dozen other countries. And if for Russia, as Reuters notes, the practical effect of the new measures may be limited due to the sharply decreased volume of bilateral trade between Moscow and Washington after 2022, then Kazakhstan, on the contrary, remains a more prominent trading partner of the United States. U.S. companies import raw materials, metals and other industrial products from the country, so new tariffs would potentially affect a wider range of supplies.
According to Reuters, representatives of the European Union, China, Australia, Japan and Singapore said that they do not agree with the US conclusions and consider the new duties to be unfounded. At the same time, London noted that for Great Britain the final regime turned out to be softer than expected and corresponds to previously reached trade agreements with Washington.
