The United States said Thursday (July 23, 2026) that it would impose new tariffs on 60 trading partners over forced labour concerns, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

The levies, which take effect Friday (July 24, 2026), range from 10% to 12.5% and impact major economies like China, India and the European Union.

“The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in unveiling the duties.

The Trump administration has moved swiftly to rebuild the president’s tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a host of his duties in February — dealing a blow to his ability to unleash steep levies at will.

After the legal setback, Mr. Trump tapped different authorities to reimpose a 10% tariff on imports. But this only lasts 150 days, expiring Friday (July 24).

The volley of new duties, initially proposed in June, will now take its place. The measures were proposed after a months-long investigation and are considered more resistant to legal challenges than earlier moves.

Under Thursday’s announcement, economies that have implemented a forced labor prohibition are hit with the lower 10-percent rate. They include Canada, the EU and the United Kingdom.

Others were deemed to deserve harsher levies, receiving the higher 12.5% tariff, a U.S. official told reporters. Trading partners like China and Japan are covered in this group.

Goods already facing Mr. Trump’s sector-specific tariffs — like steel and aluminum — will not be impacted.

Goods entering under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact will also be exempt, a U.S. official told reporters.

Maintaining leverage

Washington is separately investigating 16 economies over excess industrial capacity, in probes that could lead to additional duties. These could result in different rates among countries eventually, as Mr. Trump had done before his legal setback.

The Trump administration’s move to impose a baseline tariff while sustaining the threat of further duties ahead maintains leverage over its trading partners, trade lawyer Greta Peisch told AFP.

It also creates an incentive for countries to comply with trade pacts that they earlier struck, she added.

In spending time on investigations, officials want their incoming tariffs to be robust if there are court challenges, said Peisch, a former USTR general counsel who is now a partner at Wiley Rein.

“This makes it much more likely that they stay for the duration of Mr. Trump’s term,” signalling a “much more protectionist world’s largest economy” moving forward, Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council think tank told AFP.

The Trump administration has been hunting for options that would allow it to aggressively deploy tariffs, said former U.S. trade official Ryan Majerus.

In the longer term, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which Greer tapped to impose the latest duties, provides “more flexibility than people realize,”Mr. Majerus said.

Once they are in place, officials can modify them based on new developments, added Mr. Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding

‘Fragile’ deals –

The latest salvo comes shortly after a separate 25% tariff took effect on various Brazilian goods, with Washington accusing the Latin American giant of unfair trade practices after a yearlong investigation.

This week, Mr. Trump also ordered new 50% tariffs on many Canadian products, citing Ottawa’s “discriminatory treatment” against American alcohol, automobile and dairy products.

The Canadian tariffs taking effect in a month relied on an untested legal provision, showing that Mr. Trump has “other tools in the toolkit” to wield, said Lipsky.

This signals that U.S. tariff deals “are still fragile.” Nonetheless, the EU, which earlier signed a trade pact with the United States, expects Washington “will honor the commitments that are spelled out under the EU-U.S. Joint Statement.”

Published – July 24, 2026 03:19 am IST

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) with China’s President Xi Jinping. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

New Delhi:

Donald Trump on Tuesday denounced India, China, and Brazil as “tremendous tariff-maker(s)” and said his government would not allow the three to continue down this path, declaring, “… we’re not going to let that happen any longer because we’re going to put America first.”

Speaking to House Republicans at a Florida retreat, the United States President acknowledged the three countries – founding members of the increasingly influential BRICS bloc – were acting in their respective best interests, but seemed also to insist “… they mean us harm”.

“We’re going to put tariffs on outside countries and people that really mean harm to us. Well… they mean us harm, but they basically want to make their country good. China is a tremendous tariff-maker, and India, Brazil, and so many other countries. (But) we’re not going to let that happen any longer… because we’re going to put America first,” Trump declared to cheers.

The comments came shortly after it emerged Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet Trump in Washington, as early as next month. The two leaders spoke on the phone Monday night; it is unclear if tariffs were on the agenda, but New Delhi’s view on ‘illegal immigrants was.

READ | “Mutually Beneficial, Trusted Partnership”: Modi-Trump Phone Call

However, the US President’s view on India and tariffs is seen by many as problematic, given he slammed Delhi – the US’ largest trading partner – as a “very big abuser” during his campaign.

Trump also spoke of a “very fair system” to “very quickly” make the US “richer and more powerful”, repeating what he said after he was sworn in last week; he said, “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries… we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”

And if foreign companies – Indian, Chinese, Brazilian, or others – want to avoid these high tariffs, Trump said, they would have to “build your plant right here in America”.

He also told the House Republicans of plans to slap tariffs on steel, aluminium, copper, and other materials required by the American military. “We have to bring production back… There was a time we made a ship a day. Now we can’t… We don’t know what the hell we’re doing.”

READ | “America First”: Trump Vows Tariffs On Nations That “Mean Harm” To US

High tariffs on goods imported into the US – specifically from China – were a frequent refrain during Trump’s campaign. He also warned of “100 per cent tariffs” on BRICS nations to (in his mind) shut down talk of member-nations not using the dollar as the common currency.

Trump’s tariffs tirade has a clear economic agenda, questionable though the means may be, and that is to jumpstart manufacturing in the US. By marking up the prices of key commodities like steel, semi-conductors, medicines, etc., he is hoping to do just that. “Under the ‘America First’ economic model, as tariffs on other countries go up, taxes on American workers and businesses will come down and massive numbers of jobs and factories will come home.”

READ | How Donald Trump Is Using “Tariffs” As A Weapon

The other perspective is ‘tariff as a weapon’, a point-of-view underlined by Trump’s clash with Colombia over deportations. The South American country initially refused to accept a plane loaded with ‘illegal immigrants’, only then to face massive 25 per cent tariffs and a trade war.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro eventually relented; he had to, of course.

READ | “Cooperate Or…”: In Colombia Face-off, Trump’s Strong Message

White House Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt was quick to claim a ‘victory’, saying: “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again”, and Trump echoed that sentiment Monday, telling reporters “it serves the world well to look at” the Colombia spat.

With input from agencies

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.