Trump’s latest ‘forced labour tariffs’: Who’s been hit, how badly?

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that US President Donald Trump has introduced new tariffs of 10 percent to 12.5 percent on imports from 60 trading partners, covering countries and economies that account for nearly all US imports. The measures were announced as temporary worldwide levies expired early Friday in Washington, DC, and the administration said they respond to what it views as inadequate enforcement abroad of bans on goods made with forced labour.

The affected list published in the Federal Register includes major US partners such as China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, India, Vietnam, Brazil and Australia, along with many others. According to Al Jazeera, countries with laws barring imports made with forced labour, including India, Pakistan and Argentina, face a 10 percent tariff, while those without such laws, including China and the UK, face 12.5 percent.

The administration is using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a tool previously used for tariffs on China, after the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s broader tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. A separate stopgap measure under Section 122 was limited to 150 days and expired Friday. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer framed the move as both a labour rights and trade enforcement action.

The policy matters because it extends Trump’s high-tariff approach while shifting to a legal basis seen as more durable. Al Jazeera cited John Diamond of Rice University’s Baker Institute as questioning whether so many major trading partners rely significantly on forced labour, while also suggesting courts may be less likely to block these duties. Further Section 301 tariffs may follow from a separate probe into alleged overproduction by 16 countries.