- Sign up HERE for DC Insider – your free guide to what’s rocking Washington
- See more Daily Mail on Google – save us as a Preferred Source
By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT
Published: | Updated:
Donald Trumps administration has announced a new round of blistering tariffs on its closest trading partners.
The new 10 to 12.5 percent tariff rates will go into effect Friday morning.
They come as the current 10 percent tariff rate the administration has imposed on its partners will expire Thursday evening.
This latest batch of tariffs will impact 60 US trade partners, which constitutes 99.4 percent of American trade in total.
The new rates come under a different authority at the Presidents disposal than last years Liberation Day tariffs announced in April 2025, which were struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said the new rates are meant to punish US trade partners for not prohibiting items made with forced labor.
Ambassador Greer is taking action, at President Trumps direction, under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 by imposing tariffs on 60 trading partners for their failure to adopt and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, his office said in a statement.
The countries that will pay a 10 percent tariff rate include:Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom.
Donald Trump has ordered a new batch of tariffs on 60 US trading partners. The new rates range from 10 to 12.5 percent. They will go into effect Friday as a previous tariff order from the President is due to expire on Thursday
‘The real message here that everyone needs to take away is the president is going to always use the tools at his disposal to achieve his trade policy objectives,’ a White House official said of the tariffs on Thursday
The fresh rates come as the US is accusing the 60 countries of using at least some forced labor in the production of the traded goods
Meanwhile, the European Union, Taiwan, Japan and Korea will face rates between 10 to 12.5 percent, and all other countries will be forced to pay 12.5 percent.
‘The real message here that everyone needs to take away is the President is going to always use the tools at his disposal to achieve his trade policy objectives,’ a White House official told reporters on Thursday.
Greer launched an investigation into whether US trading partners were appropriately barring goods made with forced labor from American buyers in March.
USTR determined last month that some countries were in violation, and its officials argued that those practices harmed the US.
Countries deemed to be enforcing forced labor bans, at least in part, were hit with the lower 10 percent rate. Those working towards compliance were hit with rates between 10 and 12.5 percent.
Those with the flat 12.5 percent rate were found to be in noncompliance.
Some goods like oil and gas, types of fertilizers and food products were exempted from the Friday rate change.
This may indicate that the administration is wary of food and gas costs rising just months ahead of the November midterm elections.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s previous tariff policy plan using the Emergency Economic Powers Act, which he interpreted to give himself broad authority over duties.