The Trump administration rolled out a sweeping new set of tariffs Thursday, targeting dozens of trading partners across Europe, China, and India, among others.
Starting at 12:01 a.m. Friday, new duties of 10% to 12.5% will apply to goods shipped from 60 affected trading partners to the United States.
The tariffs are being imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, following a months-long investigation focused on forced labor practices.
Goods from the 60 affected trading partners collectively encompass 99.4% of all US imports, making this one of the broadest trade actions in recent memory.
The rollout is timed to coincide with the expiration of the temporary 10% worldwide tariffs that also lapse at 12:01 a.m. Friday, avoiding an overlap of duties.
Trump had turned to those temporary levies after the Supreme Court struck down his largest and most aggressive tariffs earlier this year in February.
“The president is not going to allow his trade policy and overall objectives to be undermined simply because one tool may be limited by a court or something else,” senior White House officials told reporters Thursday.
A senior administration official described the move as the “most sweeping international labor rights action the United States has ever taken,” while downplaying the idea it was designed simply to replace the previous tariffs.
India saw its rate adjusted from 12.5% to 10%, which the White House attributed to what it viewed as positive steps from that nation on forced labor issues.
A variety of imports, including oil and gas and products that cannot be sourced domestically, were granted exemptions from the new duties.
Administration officials said the timing was intended to “avoid complexity” that would come from layering the new levies on top of the existing temporary 10% duties.
Officials added that business leaders have been seeking more continuity and predictability around tariff policy, a notable shift from a year ago when on-and-off trade actions created widespread uncertainty.
The Yale Budget Lab recently measured the US overall effective tariff rate at 11.8% across the economy, with the new duties expected to push that figure up by roughly one percentage point.
For many importers, the practical impact may be limited, as their effective tariff rates on Friday will not look dramatically different from where they stood this week.
