A fresh round of United States tariffs targeting 60 global trading partners entered into force on Friday, marking the Trump administration’s latest step to rebuild the sweeping import duty regime that was upended by a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year. This new measure replaces the temporary 10-percent tariff that expired the same day, after lasting just 150 days. The levies are set at two tiers, ranging from 10 percent to 12.5 percent, and impact most major global economies including China, India, and the European Union, covering the vast majority of U.S. trade volume.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the new tariffs, framing them as a push for global adoption of forced labor import bans. “The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” Greer stated. The tiered structure is designed to reward trading partners that have already adopted or committed to enforce similar forced labor prohibitions: those economies, including Canada, the European Union, India, and the United Kingdom, face the lower 10-percent rate, while China, Japan, South Korea and more than 30 other nations are assigned the higher 12.5 percent levy. A small group of economies including the EU, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland receive partial exemptions under existing bilateral trade agreements with the U.S.
The new tariffs were first proposed in June, developed after months of targeted investigation, and crafted specifically to withstand potential legal challenges. This careful legal structuring comes in direct response to a February Supreme Court ruling that struck down a large portion of Trump’s earlier tariff regime, stripping the White House of its ability to impose steep duties unchecked. Several categories of imports are carved out of the new measures: goods already subject to sector-specific tariffs such as steel and aluminum are not affected, along with certain energy products, fertilizers, and all goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The announcement drew immediate pushback from affected economies. Japan issued a formal statement saying it “regrets” the new duties, while Australia’s trade minister labeled the measures “unjustified.”
Beyond this broad tariff rollout, the Trump administration is currently conducting separate investigations into excess industrial capacity in 16 other economies, which could lead to additional targeted duties down the line. Trade experts note the structure of the new regime creates strategic leverage for Washington. By imposing a baseline tariff while keeping the threat of further increases on the table, the White House incentivizes trading partners to comply with existing trade commitments, according to Greta Peisch, a trade lawyer and former general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, now a partner at Wiley Rein. Peisch added that the months-long investigation process was intentional, designed to create a legally robust tariff regime that can survive court challenges.
This legal robustness makes it far more likely the tariffs will remain in place for the rest of Trump’s term, signaling a permanent shift toward a more protectionist stance from the world’s largest economy, explained Josh Lipsky, senior analyst at the Atlantic Council. Lipsky also noted that the new tariffs will deliver an added benefit to the federal government by boosting overall revenue.
Former U.S. trade official Ryan Majerus, now a partner at King & Spalding, noted that the Trump administration has actively been searching for legal frameworks that allow it to aggressively deploy tariffs. The current duties are authorized under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which Majerus said offers far more flexibility for adjusting rates and terms than many observers recognize, allowing officials to modify the measures as geopolitical and trade conditions shift.
The latest broad tariff salvo comes on the heels of two other recent protectionist moves from the Trump administration: just weeks ago, a 25-percent tariff on a range of Brazilian goods went into effect, following accusations of unfair trade practices from Washington. This week, Trump also ordered a new 50-percent tariff on a wide swathe of Canadian products, citing Ottawa’s “discriminatory treatment” of U.S. alcohol, automobile, and dairy products. That Canadian tariff, set to take effect in one month, relies on an untested legal provision, demonstrating that the White House holds additional tools to quickly impose new trade measures if it chooses. Lipsky said this flurry of activity signals that existing U.S. trade agreements remain “fragile” in the current policy environment. Despite the uncertainty, the European Union — which has a existing trade pact with Washington — reaffirmed its expectation that the U.S. will honor the commitments laid out in the EU-U.S. Joint Statement.