US set to impose new tariffs on 60 trading partners

23 Jul 2026, 21:43 · RTE.ie

The Trump administration will impose new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners, including the European Union, over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labour bans, senior administration officials said.

The move comes just as a temporary 10% global tariff expires.

It is the White House's latest effort to restore President Donald Trump's campaign vision of a near-global tariff after the US 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 US trade deficit.

Mr Trump responded to that ruling by imposing a temporary 10% tariff for 150 days that expires tonight (05.01am Irish time), 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 12.01am eastern 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," said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in unveiling the duties.

A senior Trump administration official disputed suggestions that the forced labour 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 US imports.

The official said the US has stronger import bans on goods made with forced labour and enforces them more rigidly than any other country, giving rivals an unfair trading advantage over the US.

Both Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress have been calling for the eradication of forced labour from global supply chains, "so we're really responding to that call."

The official added that Mr Trump would "always use the tools at his disposal to achieve his trade policy objectives, and that includes tariffs".