US to Impose Additional 12.5 Percent Tariffs on 40 Countries' Products including China-Japan

JAKARTA - The administration of US President Donald Trump plans to impose additional tariffs of 12.5 percent on goods from China, Japan, South Korea, and more than 40 other countries.

Washington accuses these countries of not making adequate efforts to ban the import of goods allegedly produced using forced labor.

The proposal was released by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Tuesday night. The move comes after the US Supreme Court in February overturned Trump's previously imposed broad tariff policy under the 1970s-era emergency law.

Following the ruling, the US government launched a number of trade investigations into practices deemed unfair by US trading partners.

Based on the proposal, imports from a number of major trading partners of the US, including the European Union, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan, will be subject to a new tariff of 10 percent.

As reported by ANTARA from Kyodo, Thursday, June 4, the USTR explained that the lower tariffs were the result of an investigation of 60 economies that showed that some countries had taken steps to ban the import of goods allegedly produced with forced labor.

To re-establish the Trump tariff regime after the legal defeat, the US government previously introduced a global tariff of 10 percent using a different legal basis. However, the additional levy can only apply for 150 days unless Congress approves an extension.

In this context, the US government is trying to replace the 10 percent general tariff with a new tariff using Article 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement that the failure of most of the United States' trading partners to address the labor issue "creates a situation where American workers are forced to compete globally in an unequal playing field."

However, the proposed tariff will not be immediately implemented because it still has to go through a public hearing scheduled to take place on July 7.

Japanese Trade Minister Ryosei Akazawa wrote on social media that people should not worry because tariffs against Japan would not be affected. He has reiterated to the US Trump administration that it will not impose higher tariffs than the level agreed to bilaterally last year.

Prior to the US Supreme Court ruling, imports from Japan were subject to a special country tariff of 15 percent.