Washington imposes new tariffs on some sixty countries

Starting this Friday, July 24, tariffs of 10% or 12,5% ​​will be applied to products from approximately sixty of the United States' trading partners, accused of failing to eliminate forced labor from their supply chains. These new tariffs replace the temporary tariffs introduced in February, which expired on the same date.

The White House announced Thursday evening that new tariffs on imports from approximately 60 countries would take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday (4:01 a.m. GMT). The tariffs are set at 10% for partners whose forced labor legislation is deemed inadequate by Washington, and at 12,5% ​​for about 40 others whose regulations are considered even more deficient.

Countries subject to the 10% tariff include the member states of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Canada. China, Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea are subject to the 12,5% ​​tariff. However, energy and raw materials not produced in the United States are expected to be excluded from this tariff.

These surcharges follow the temporary 10% tariffs imposed last February, which were themselves put in place after the Supreme Court struck down most of the customs duties introduced since the return of Donald Trump at the presidency, in January 2025. These temporary measures, lasting 150 days, were due to expire precisely on Friday.

The legal basis chosen by USTR (the United States Trade Representative), Jamieson Greer, is deliberately the same as that which allowed the maintenance of sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, lumber, and automobiles, which were not struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House intends to shield these new measures from potential legal challenges.

Greer justified the tariffs on CNN: “We are seeking to end the trade in these types of products. Other countries don't have the processes in place to identify companies that use forced labor, and we are asking them to put them in place.” He added: “If you allow the importation of goods produced with forced labor, it creates unfair competition against your own products.”

For Greta Peisch, a lawyer specializing in international trade, the real objective is "to maintain control and pressure on countries to continue implementing the trade agreements that have been signed, and perhaps to negotiate others in the future." She notes that there is "a common thread, even if tariffs vary considerably and their justifications change in the meantime."

These new measures are part of an offensive sequence: on Monday, Canada was hit with an additional 50% tariff, set to take effect in a month. On Wednesday, Brazil was subjected to 25% tariffs on nearly half of its exports to the United States. In both cases, Washington opted for a targeted approach, applying only to some of the affected products rather than all exports.

The EU, already affected by the surtax linked to forced labor, is also the subject of a separate investigation into possible industrial overcapacity, conducted on the basis of the same legislative text.