Trump to slap 'sweeping' new tariffs on 60 trade partners as global duties expire - CNBC

What the report says

CNBC reported that the Trump administration put a new tariff system in place Friday, targeting dozens of countries and the European Union as an earlier temporary global duty expired. The new import taxes began at 12:01 a.m. ET and range from 10% to 12.5%, effectively succeeding the administration’s expiring 10% worldwide tariff.

According to a Federal Register notice cited by CNBC, the administration tied the action to alleged failures by trading partners to address forced labor practices in commerce with the United States. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the tariffs apply to 60 trade partners and account for 99.4% of U.S. trade. CNBC said USTR did not provide an estimate of expected tariff revenue.

A senior Trump administration official described the measure to reporters as an unusually broad international labor-rights action. The official also said the new duties would not be added on top of existing steel and aluminum tariffs imposed under Section 232. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told senators Wednesday that the administration would keep using tariffs and negotiations to support domestic industry, workers’ wages and deficit reduction, CNBC reported.

The move marks another escalation in President Donald Trump’s trade agenda after earlier legal defeats, including a Supreme Court ruling against his global “liberation day” duties. CNBC noted that the latest tariffs rely on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, while the expiring global tariff had been imposed under a separate authority with a 150-day limit. The administration has also recently moved forward with major duties on imports from Brazil and Canada.