Reported by Consejeros Editorial Team
The administration of US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday new tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on imports from 60 countries and economies, citing an investigation into “insufficient efforts to combat forced labour” as justification; this measure comes just hours before the current temporary global tariff of 10% imposed by Washington is due to expire.
The new tariffs, announced by the office of the US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, are intended to replace the temporary 10 per cent global tariff imposed by Trump, which expires on Friday morning, and represent a new phase in the trade war waged by Trump since April 2025.
Trump imposed a temporary 10 per cent tariff in February, after the Supreme Court struck down most of his overall tariffs, using the legal basis of the so-called Section 301.
The new tariffs establish an additional tariff of 10 per cent on imports from 17 economies and 12.5 per cent for others, whilst for some trading partners the rates vary depending on the product.
In Latin America, the measure affects Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, which will face an additional 10 per cent tariff.
The text also includes Mexico, although the Mexican government has clarified that 85 per cent of its exports will be covered under the USMCA, so the tariff will apply only to the remaining 15 per cent.
10 per cent for the European Union
The Trump administration is imposing a combined tariff of 10 per cent on the 27 economies of the European Union.
Also included among the affected economies are India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Canada and the United Kingdom, although the applicable rates vary in some cases depending on the origin and type of imported product.
China, with higher and specific tariffs, does not appear on the new list.
The measure stems from investigations launched by Greer’s office in March, under Section 301 of US trade legislation, to determine whether the policies and practices of those countries relating to the ban on importing goods produced using forced labour are harming US workers and businesses.
Following the investigations and consultations with the governments concerned, Greer’s office determined that the practices identified justify the adoption of trade measures.
Trump’s tariff policy, one of the cornerstones of his economic agenda since his return to the White House in January 2025, has been marked by a legal dispute over the scope of presidential powers to impose duties on foreign trade.
After the Supreme Court struck down most of his global tariffs, the Administration has turned to other legal tools, such as Section 301, to maintain its trade strategy and impose new tariffs on imports.
