A sweeping new round of Trump administration tariffs has landed on goods from 60 US trading partners, including the EU and China, with duties of 10% and 12.5% imposed over claims that other countries are failing to police forced labour bans strictly enough.
The decision marks the White House’s latest attempt to revive President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge for a near-global tariff regime, after the US Supreme Court in February struck down his “reciprocal” duties of 10% to 50% introduced last year under a national emergencies law aimed at narrowing the US trade deficit.
The tariffs, set out late last night in a Federal Register notice, apply to 99.4% of US imports, though a wide range of products are carved out, including oil and gas, fertiliser and some food items.
By using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the administration is seeking to keep a tariff floor under almost all US imports despite its defeat at the Supreme Court.
The EU and China were among the trading partners targeted by the tariffs
Mr Trump’s temporary 10% global tariff lapsed at 5am Irish time after running for 150 days.
The replacement duties came into force at precisely the same time, while goods already in transit will be exempt until 5am Irish time on 28 July.
“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,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
“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.”
Mr Greer has previously said that where countries have struck trade agreements with Washington placing caps on US tariff rates, the new forced labour duties would not lift them beyond those limits.
The US placed a 10% duty on goods from Argentina, Bangladesh, Britain, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago.
The European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland were given rates that, when added to existing most-favoured-nation tariff levels, amount to 10% or 12.5%.
A further 38 countries were assigned a 12.5% tariff.
Among them are Vietnam, which this week issued a new decree setting out more detailed rules to ban imports of goods made with forced labour, and China, which the US accuses of detaining Uyghur minorities in work camps, an allegation Beijing denies.
Trump administration officials have told their Chinese counterparts that they plan to rebuild Mr Trump’s second-term tariffs on Chinese goods to the 20% level agreed in a trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2025, but not go above it.
Before the latest move, China’s tariff rate had dropped to 10%, excluding the 25% imposed during Mr Trump’s first term on industrial goods.
Countries protest
The measures prompted swift objections from several trading partners.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc regarded the new tariffs as a shock and argued that Washington’s justification did not stand up.
“If you compare our labor laws to the ones of the United States, I mean, we have paid vacations, we have very good labour conditions for our employees, so it’s not really grounded,” she told Reuters on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings in Manila.
Australia and Brazil called the tariffs unjustified and said they would press for their removal, while Norway said there was “no basis” for the duties.
Canada to consider retaliating against latest Trump tariffs, Carney says
Canada, which was hit on Monday with new Trump tariffs on $20 billion worth of goods, offered a restrained response to what it described as “unilateral” tariffs.
“We will continue engaging constructively with the United States on this matter, as well as other outstanding issues, over the coming weeks to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” said Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister responsible for US trade.
Kelly Ann Shaw, a former White House trade adviser during Mr Trump’s first term and now a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, said the new package largely followed what had already been signalled, although there were adjustments, including the addition of about 471 products to an exclusion list.
“I think this is more status quo in terms of the economic impact,” she said.
Trade partners such as the EU had negotiated tariff caps, meaning their new duties would be lower than those set out under their earlier agreement, she said.
A senior Trump administration official rejected the view that the forced labour tariffs were simply a substitute for the expiring levies, despite the matching timing, similar rates and sweeping reach across almost all US imports.
The official said the US applies tougher import bans on goods made with forced labour and enforces them more strictly than any other country, leaving American competitors at a trade disadvantage.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been calling for the eradication of forced labor from global supply chains, “so we’re really responding to that call,” the official said.
The US Supreme Court in February struck down Donald Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ duties of 10% to 50% imposed last year
Ryan Majerus, a trade lawyer and former Commerce Department official, said the new duties may prove more difficult to overturn in court because Section 301 has survived previous legal challenges and some judges may hesitate to block measures framed as action against forced labour.
“Once the 301 duties are placed, they have a lot of flexibility to adjust them,” said Majerus, a partner at King and Spalding. “It’s a sledgehammer. It’s also intended to keep the…10% baseline in place, and they think they’re well protected when this goes to court.”
A broad range of products will be exempt from the duties, including oil and gas, fertiliser, certain foodstuffs and goods already covered by Section 232 national security tariffs, such as autos, steel, aluminum and copper, the official said.
Aircraft and parts will also be exempted, as will critical minerals.
Goods that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement will also be left out because of the deeply integrated North American supply chain and the high level of US content in those products.
McEntee confirms ‘no stacking’ of exising tariffs
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee said the new US tariff regime, which takes effect today, replaces the section 122 tariffs.
The Minister said the measures are consistent with commitments made under the Turnberry agreement, including an all-inclusive ceiling of 15%.
“This is welcome and shows the clear value of the agreement. It also confirms that there will be no stacking of existing tariffs, which had been an area of concern for us for some of our agrifood exports, including dairy,” Helen McEntee said.
She said the Government, working with its European partners, will carry out a detailed review of the US legal notice to assess the full implications.
“However, the outcome of what has been published is in line with expectations following my phone call with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday,” she said.
“As we continue with the implementation of the Joint Statement, we will focus on exploring further tariff exemptions for key products and sectors for the EU and Irish economies,” she stated.
“As EU Presidency, the Government will focus on dialogue and on giving as much certainty and clarity as possible to Irish and European businesses,” she added.
Chambers Ireland, however, said today it was concerned by the latest US decision to impose fresh tariffs on imports from a wide range of trading partners, including the European Union.
Chambers Ireland CEO Ian Talbot said the US remains Ireland’s largest export market, but today’s announcement underlined again that companies are trading in a climate of growing uncertainty.
“With almost half of our goods exports destined for the US, businesses need confidence that trading conditions will remain stable and predictable over the long term,” Mr Talbot said.
He said Ireland and the European Union should respond to the US tariffs by protecting strong trading relationships while opening up new markets and reducing dependence on any one destination.
“This development should provide renewed impetus for the EU to conclude and implement trade agreements with key partners. Progress on Free Trade Agreements, alongside negotiations with India, Indonesia and other growing economies, would expand market access for Irish businesses and help them build more resilient supply chains,” Mr Talbot stated.
With Ireland holding the EU presidency, he said there is a significant opportunity to make fuller use of the Single Market by cutting trade barriers and helping businesses reach a market of more than 400 million consumers.
