The USA has imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners. Image source: Adobe Stock
The US administration has imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners alleging those countries had failed to curb imports involving the use of forced labour, Reuters reported.
Imposed on 24 July – the same day the temporary Section 122 import duty previously introduced by the US administration expired –the new tariffs would cover 99.4% of all US imports, the report on the same date said.
However, many products and commodities – including oil and gas, fertilisers and specific food products – would be exempt, Reuters wrote.
As part of agreements made with the USA in February, Indonesia and Malaysia had secured exemptions for palm oil and it was expected that the White House would confirm the continuation of those provisions under the new tariff measures, LIPSA wrote on 24 July.
The introduction of a new round of tariffs by the US Trade Representative’s office followed a Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation aimed at restoring US President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs of 10%-50% imposed last year under a national emergencies law in a bid to shrink the US trade deficit, which had been struck down by the US Supreme Court in February, a previous Reuters
report said.
Although the new tariffs were not unexpected, trading partners around the world said they were unjustified.
However, some noted they would make no difference to current levies or even marked a slight improvement.
Economies facing a 10% rate included Canada, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Malaysia and the UK, as each had a forced labour import prohibition, a commitment to impose one under an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, or a partial regime, FreightWaves
wrote on 28 July.
The 12.5% tariff would apply to all other nations – including China and Vietnam – involved.
For the European Union (EU) and Taiwan, the duty worked out to the higher of 10% or the most-favoured-nation rate, with no additional charge on goods already dutied at 10% or above, the report said.
The same rule applied to the 12.5% tariff on Japan, South Korea and Switzerland.
The duty layers rather than replaces, according to the Reuters report.
Ordinary customs duties, antidumping and countervailing duties, and existing Section 301 duties would still apply to covered goods, meaning Chinese and Brazilian would face both.
China said it opposed all unilateral tariffs, adding that trade wars did not serve any parties, while Australia and Brazil said they would seek to have them removed, Reuters wrote.
Canadian and Mexican goods entering free of duty under the USA, United Mexican States and Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement would be exempt.