The administration of the current president of the United States, Donald Trump, will begin a new tariff policy on imported products from about 60 trading partners. The new rates will take effect just after midnight on Friday (U.S. Eastern time), ending the temporary global tariff of 10% applied in recent months.
The rates vary between 10% and 12,5% and, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), will cover approximately 99,4% of U.S. trade flow with the countries included in the measure. The government reported that the decision was formalized through a notice published in the Federal Register.
The White House says that the change is the result of an investigation that concluded that the affected countries did not adopt sufficient actions to prevent the use of forced labor in production chains linked to exports destined for the United States. For this reason, the Trump administration decided to replace the temporary tariff with a new set of specific charges.
During a conversation with journalists, a member of the government described the initiative as an unprecedented step in U.S. trade policy.
“it is the most comprehensive international action on labor rights that the United States has ever taken — or that any country has ever taken.”
Despite the expansion of the tariffs, the government highlighted that they will not be added to the existing tariffs on steel and aluminum, known as Section 232 tariffs. These charges remain in effect and remain separate from the new measures announced this week.
The decision also shows that the White House continues to resort to the instruments provided for in the Trade Act of 1974 to maintain its trade strategy. The adoption of this path gained strength after part of the global tariffs proposed by Trump was struck down by the Supreme Court at the beginning of this year.
At the time, the president reacted by using Section 122 of the same legislation to establish a worldwide tariff of 10%. However, this authorization had a duration limited to 150 days and expires precisely at the moment when the new tariffs announced by the government come into force.
In recent months, the tariff policy of the United States was also expanded to other countries. Brazil began to face tariffs of 25% on most of its exports to the U.S. market, while products from Canada are to be taxed at up to 50% starting next month.
In addition to the investigation related to forced labor, the U.S. government is conducting another inquiry based on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. This second process analyzes possible distortions caused by excess production capacity in 16 economies and its result has not yet been disclosed.
In a Senate hearing, the United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, stated that tariff policy will continue to be one of the main tools of the government's economic strategy.