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U.S. Implements 10–12.5% Section 301 Tariffs on 60 Trading Partners

The move uses Section 301 to frame weak forced‑labor rules as the legal basis for a lasting global tariff

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 22: U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on July 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. Greer is presenting U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy agenda as the Trump administration has recently put a 50 percent tariff on certain goods from Canada causing criticism from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and some Republicans. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office of the White House on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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Cranes unload Containers off the Maribo Maersk container ship at a terminal wharf in Bremerhaven, Germany, August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler/File Photo

Overview

  • The White House put tariffs of 10 percent or 12.5 percent into effect for imports from 60 countries after a temporary 10 percent global duty expired on Friday, covering about 99.4 percent of U.S. imports with specific product carve outs and a short transit exemption.
  • The administration based the action on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 after the Supreme Court struck down its earlier emergency tariff scheme, a shift intended to make broad duties more legally durable.
  • USTR created a two‑tier system that assigns the lower 10 percent rate to countries with forced‑labor prohibitions or commitments and a 12.5 percent rate to others, while exempting items such as oil, gas, fertilizer, some foodstuffs and goods already subject to other sectoral tariffs.
  • Trading partners and business groups protested and have lodged legal challenges, and U.S. firms and advocacy groups have already filed suits in trade court contesting the blanket, countrywide determinations.
  • The tariffs are likely to raise consumer costs modestly, add supply‑chain uncertainty and may be followed by further duties from a separate Section 301 'Excess Capacity' probe of 16 economies that remains open.