Trump admin proposes broad new tariffs on top trading partners

The admin is aiming to impose new levies up to 12.5% over forced labor concerns.

The Trump administration is proposing a broad new set of tariffs on dozens of key trading partners, including the European Union, China, Mexico and Canada -- an aggressive move to rebuild the president's signature economic policy after many of his tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court.

The announcement came in a report released late Tuesday by the office of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer invoking Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

The report accused 60 trading partners of failing to enact or enforce laws around "forced labor," using that as a justification to impose tariffs of up to 12.5%. The tariffs target 99% of imports to the United States, the report said.

Under the proposal, countries including China, the United Kingdom, Japan and Brazil would face additional tariffs up to 12.5%. Mexico, Canada, and the European Union would face additional 10% tariffs.

These new tariffs are not yet in effect. The USTR said it will hold a public hearing on the proposed actions on July 7, 2026.

The administration launched investigations in March into various trading partners under Section 301 after the Supreme Court ruled in February that President Donald Trump could not impose sweeping global tariffs under a separate authority, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The administration's issued roughly $20 billion in refunds on those tariffs so far, according to a court filing last week.

Though many of Trump's other tariffs are still in effect, with the overall effective tariff rate still at the highest level since the 1940s, according to the Yale Budget Lab. It estimated the current tariff policy, without the proposed new additions, could cost the average American household up to $1,200 per year.

The USTR report claimed that 54 economies "have failed to impose a legal prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labor and to effectively enforce such a prohibition."

Those countries include Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, China, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan; Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria; Norway, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam.

It also said that six economies "have failed to effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition." Those countries, according to the report, are Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan.

Greer said Tuesday on CNBC that the Trump administration would soon release the results of these ​several Section 301 ​trade investigations, saying they were "nuanced."

"We're trying to go very carefully to change the terms of trade between the United States and the rest of the world," he said.

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