Trump to slap ‘sweeping’ new tariffs on 60 trade partners

The Trump administration will impose new tariffs on dozens of countries just after midnight Friday over alleged forced labor violations, senior administration officials said Thursday.

The tariffs, set at 10 percent to 12.5 percent, would replace President Donald Trump’s temporary 10 percent global tariffs that will expire at the same time the new ones take effect.

Future tariffs will apply to 60 trading partners and cover more than 99% of U.S. trade. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative told CNBC it could not provide an estimate of how much revenue the new tariffs would generate.

The move “is the most comprehensive international labor rights action by any country that the United States has ever taken,” a senior Trump administration official told reporters Thursday afternoon.

The new tariffs “will not stack” on top of existing import taxes on steel and aluminum, known as “Section 232” duties, that Trump imposed last year on national security grounds, the official said.

Thursday’s announcement underscores how the Trump administration has stepped up its aggressive use of tariffs after the president’s protectionist agenda suffered major regulatory setbacks earlier this year. Trump has long touted tariffs as essential tools to raise revenue and gain influence with foreign trade partners, while brushing aside criticism that they tax U.S. importers and raise prices for U.S. consumers.

The White House recently imposed a 25% tariff on most U.S. imports from Brazil, effective Wednesday, and a 50% tariff on a wide range of products from Canada, starting next month.

The Trump administration proposed the new tariffs in early June after concluding that targeted countries had failed to effectively ban the use of forced labor in trade with the United States.

The new tariffs are being imposed under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, one of Trump’s trading tools since the Supreme Court struck down his global “redemption day” mandates on Feb. 20.

Hours after the court loss, a furious Trump said he would impose a 10% worldwide tariff under Section 122 of the 1974 trade act. However, this recipe came with a 150-day timer set to expire at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday.

In March, the Trump administration announced two separate investigations into Section 301: one investigating forced labor and another focusing on concerns about the excess production capacity of 16 economies. The second investigation has not yet been concluded.

“We are committed to continuing to use tariffs and negotiate deals to support the reindustrialization of our economy, protect American workers, raise their wages, and reduce our trade deficit,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in Senate testimony Wednesday.

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