标签： Oceania

The United States announced Thursday a sweeping set of new tariffs targeting 60 global trading partners, framed around forced labor compliance concerns, that will replace an expiring temporary import duty first rolled out earlier this year by the Trump administration. The new levies, set to enter into force Friday, carry tiered rates between 10 and 12.5 percent and cover major world economies including China, India, and the European Union.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated in the official unveiling that Washington has enforced a national ban on forced labor imports for nearly a century, and argued it is long past due for all U.S. trading partners to adopt similarly rigorous rules.

The move marks the administration’s latest step to rebuild President Trump’s signature tariff regime, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a sweeping set of his earlier tariffs in February. That ruling severely limited the president’s ability to impose steep duties without explicit congressional authorization, delivering a major legal setback to his trade agenda.

Following the court decision, the Trump administration used alternative executive authority to reimpose a temporary 10 percent baseline tariff on most qualifying imports, but that measure carried a 150-day expiration that falls on Friday. The new round of duties, first proposed in June following a months-long regulatory investigation, replaces the expiring measure and has been structured to withstand future legal challenges far better than the earlier temporary tariffs, administration officials and trade experts note.

Under the new tiered structure, trading partners that have already enacted their own formal forced labor import bans face the lower 10 percent rate; this group includes Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. Nations deemed not to meet the compliance standard face the higher 12.5 percent levy, with major economies like China and Japan falling into this higher-tariff bracket, a senior U.S. official confirmed to reporters.

Notably, goods already covered by sector-specific Trump-era tariffs on steel and aluminum are excluded from the new measures, and all imports qualifying for duty-free access under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) also remain exempt.

Beyond the new forced labor-linked tariffs, Washington is currently conducting separate investigations into 16 global economies over allegations of excess industrial capacity, probes that could result in additional targeted duties down the line. Much like the original pre-ruling tariff framework, these future measures could carry varying rates tailored to individual countries.

Trade experts say the strategy of imposing a baseline tariff while retaining the threat of additional future levies is intentional, designed to preserve U.S. negotiating leverage with trading partners. Greta Peisch, a trade lawyer and former USTR general counsel now serving as a partner at Wiley Rein, told Agence France-Presse that the structure creates clear incentives for countries to adhere to existing trade agreements they have signed with Washington. Peisch added that by investing months in formal investigations ahead of imposing the new duties, administration officials have sought to build robust legal protections against future court challenges.

Josh Lipsky, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, said the new framework makes it far more likely that the tariffs will remain in place for the rest of Trump’s term, signaling that the world’s largest economy is shifting toward a significantly more protectionist trade posture going forward.

Former U.S. trade official Ryan Majerus, now a partner at King & Spalding, noted that the administration has actively been searching for legal pathways to continue aggressive tariff deployment. He added that Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act – the authority USTR Greer used to impose the latest duties – provides more policy flexibility than many observers recognize, allowing officials to adjust tariff rates over time in response to new developments.

The new tariff announcement comes on the heels of two other recent aggressive trade actions by the Trump administration: just weeks ago, a 25 percent tariff on a range of Brazilian goods went into effect, following a year-long investigation that found Brazil engaged in unfair trade practices. Earlier this week, Trump also ordered a 50 percent tariff on dozens of Canadian products, citing what the administration calls Ottawa’s discriminatory treatment of American alcohol, automobile, and dairy exports. That Canadian tariff is set to take effect in one month and relies on an untested new legal provision, which Lipsky says demonstrates the administration still has a range of untapped trade tools at its disposal.

Lipsky added that the flurry of new tariff actions signals that existing U.S. trade agreements remain fragile, despite past negotiations. Even so, the European Union – which signed a new trade pact with Washington in recent months – says it expects the U.S. to uphold all commitments laid out in the EU-U.S. joint statement.

Escalating geopolitical tensions across key Middle Eastern shipping lanes have sent global oil prices surging toward the $100 per barrel threshold, sparking widespread uncertainty across international financial markets on Thursday. The latest upward price movement came in response to continued attacks on Red Sea commercial shipping by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, paired with a sharp threat of major military retaliation against the group from former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Brent Crude, the global benchmark for international oil trade, jumped more than 5.7% to settle near $99.42 per barrel by 1100 GMT, just a hair below the psychologically significant $100 mark that investors and analysts have warned would signal a major shift in global energy market dynamics. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude also climbed 4.5% to reach $90.75 per barrel.

The disruption to Red Sea shipping has emerged as a critical flashpoint for energy markets, as Saudi Arabia has re-routed millions of barrels of oil exports through the waterway that normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz – another strategically vital energy choke point already facing elevated geopolitical risk. A prolonged closure or sustained disruption to either route would pull substantial volumes of oil off the global market, tightening supplies even further.

Neil Wilson, a UK-based investor strategist at Saxo, noted that there are currently no visible signs of a diplomatic breakthrough to de-escalate tensions, as both the U.S. and Iran have adopted hardened positions. “Investors are in a wary mood, as fresh jitters over the ongoing energy crunch hit market sentiment,” added Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club. “With both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea now under increasing pressure, markets are bracing for the possibility that the conflict could disrupt key energy routes and keep oil prices elevated for an extended period.”

Higher sustained oil prices also raise the specter of renewed global inflationary pressure, which could force central banks around the world to hold interest rates higher for longer – or even implement additional rate hikes. This dynamic was on full display Thursday, as European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde confirmed that some policymakers had considered a rate hike at the bank’s latest monetary policy meeting before the governing council ultimately voted to hold rates steady.

Major U.S. stock markets tumbled in early trading, with all three primary benchmark indices falling more than 1% by mid-session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the declines, dropping 1.8%, as all of the so-called Magnificent Seven large-cap technology stocks ended the day in negative territory. Shares of Alphabet fell 6% after the company raised its full-year artificial intelligence capital expenditure forecast to as much as $205 billion, a figure far higher than Wall Street analysts had projected. Tesla shares slumped 9.6% following a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit report and an announcement that the firm would double its capital expenditure compared to the same quarter in 2025.

Patrick O’Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com, pointed out that the scale of the index-level losses was not out of line with broader market conditions, noting that many non-tech stocks received a boost from positive earnings reports and that weekly U.S. unemployment claims data offered a reassuring signal about the strength of the domestic labor market. Even so, investor confidence in the AI sector has been tested in recent months, as concerns mount over stretched valuations and questions linger over when the trillions of dollars invested in the space will generate meaningful returns. Market participants are now turning their attention to next week’s earnings reports from Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, which will be closely scrutinized for details of the companies’ planned capital spending.

Global market performance was mixed across regions on Thursday. Most major Asian stock markets recorded modest gains, buoyed by a long-awaited bounce for regional technology firms. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.3% and Shanghai’s Composite index edged up 0.3%. In contrast, European markets traded lower across the board in afternoon dealing, with London’s FTSE 100 falling 0.9%, France’s CAC 40 dropping 1.8%, and Germany’s DAX declining 1.5%.

In currency markets, the U.S. dollar strengthened against most major peer currencies. The Japanese yen hit a fresh four-decade low against the dollar, as investors priced in the persistent gap between the Bank of Japan’s ultra-low interest rate policy and the higher rates maintained by the U.S. and other major advanced economies. Rising oil prices and broader concerns over the outlook for Japan’s economy have added additional downward pressure on the yen in recent trading sessions.

A high-stakes David vs Goliath trademark dispute between global rap icon Eminem and small Australian swimwear label Swim Shady is set to continue, after the hip-hop star filed a last-minute appeal against a recent court ruling that favored the local brand.

The conflict centers on the similarity between Swim Shady’s brand name and Eminem’s legendary alter ego, Slim Shady, a moniker the rapper has built a decades-long career around. Lawyers representing Eminem, whose legal name is Marshall Mathers, had previously blocked Swim Shady co-founders Jeremy Scott and Elizabeth Afrakoff’s 2024 application to register their brand as a trademark in Australia, arguing the name infringed on the rapper’s existing intellectual property rights.

Earlier this month, however, Delegate of the Registrar of Trade Mark Benjamin Goldsworthy ruled in Swim Shady’s favor. The decision found that Eminem’s registered trademarks for “Shady” and “Shady Limited” had not been actively used on clothing, footwear, headwear, bags, or leather goods in Australia during the mandatory legal period required to enforce trademark protection. As a result, the court ordered Mathers to cover the small brand’s legal costs stemming from the challenge.

Scott and Afrakoff, the husband-and-wife team behind the Australian beachwear label, welcomed the initial ruling, calling it a key milestone for their young business. Even at the time, however, the pair acknowledged that the legal fight might not be fully resolved, noting that additional proceedings remained pending after the first ruling.

True to that expectation, Eminem’s legal team has now launched an appeal. Documents for the appeal were officially submitted to the Federal Court of Australia’s Victoria Registry on Wednesday, right before the July 22 deadline set in the original ruling. The move means the small Australian brand will have to continue defending its trademark against one of the biggest names in the global music industry, extending a legal battle that has drawn international attention to the clash between a giant entertainment corporation and a local small business.