Trump Imposes New Tariffs of up to 12.5 Percent on 60 Trading Partners

JAKARTA - The United States will impose new tariffs of up to 12.5 percent on goods from 60 trading partners, including Japan, South Korea, and the European Union.

The plan will be implemented on the grounds that its partner is suspected of having failed to adequately prohibit the import of goods produced through forced labor.

Thursday's announcement comes ahead of the expiration of the 10 percent global tariff introduced by the US in February, shortly after the Supreme Court overturned President Trump's massive "reciprocal tariff" and the fentanyl-related levies he imposed on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico.

"President Trump recognizes that decades of moral persuasion have not succeeded in eradicating forced labor from global supply chains," said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as reported by ANTARA from Kyodo, Friday, July 24.

"The United States has enforced a ban on the import of forced labor goods for almost a century, and enforced it strictly; it's time for our trading partners to do the same."

Based on different legal authorities, the Trump administration imposed a 10 percent tariff, but the tariff can only be in effect for 150 days unless Congress approves an extension.

The temporary tariffs under Article 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose import taxes of up to 15 percent to address a "large and serious" balance of payments deficit, will expire on Friday.

While imposing comprehensive tariffs, the government has been exploring the possibility of applying more permanent import duties based on countries, using Article 301 of the trade law.

Greer and other senior officials insisted that American companies were forced to compete with foreign competitors in an unfair arena because most of the US trading partners failed to address labor-related allegations.