America imposes new customs duties on 60 trading partners

The United States announced Thursday the imposition of new customs duties on 60 trading partners due to concerns about forced labor. These duties replace tariffs that President Donald had imposed earlier this year and have expired.
The new law, which took effect on Friday, ranges between 10% and 12.5%, and affects major economies such as China, India, and the European Union.

New customs duties

“For nearly a century, the United States has imposed and strictly enforces a ban on the import of goods produced by forced labor, and now is the time for our trading partners to follow suit,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

The Trump administration moved quickly to save its customs policy after the Supreme Court canceled a large portion of the duties that Trump had imposed, considering that he had misinterpreted the law to justify them, which limited his ability to impose exorbitant duties at will.

Legal appeals

After that setback, Trump resorted to imposing temporary fees of 10% based on a different law that allows him to impose these additional fees for a maximum period of 150 days, which expired on Friday.
An alternative fee package that was introduced for the first time in June is now coming into effect, and is considered more resilient to legal challenges compared to previous measures.

Trade agreements

Under the decision issued Thursday, economies that have implemented a ban on importing goods produced with forced labor, or have committed to doing so, are subject to the lower rate of duties of 10%, including Canada, the European Union, India, and the United Kingdom.
Countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and dozens of other countries have been included in the list of countries that impose the highest fees of 12.5%.
The European Union, in addition to Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland, is subject to relaxed measures, in line with the trade agreements that these countries previously concluded with the United States.