Nigeria Affected As US Imposes New Tariffs On 60 Countries (FULL LIST)

 

A new wave of US tariffs targeting 60 trading partners took effect on Friday, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

The levies, which range from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent and impact major economies like China, India and the European Union, sparked protests from Beijing and other targets.

“The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

He earlier said that the targeted economies represent the majority of US trade.

The Trump administration has moved swiftly to rebuild the president’s tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a host of his duties in February — dealing a blow to his ability to unleash steep levies at will.

After the setback, Trump tapped different authorities to reimpose a 10 per cent tariff on imports. But this only lasted 150 days and expired on Friday.

The volley of new duties, initially proposed in June, now takes its place.

The measures were planned after a months-long investigation and are considered more resistant to legal challenges than earlier moves.

 ‘Unjustified’ 

Under Thursday’s announcement, economies that have implemented a forced labour import prohibition or committed to do so were hit with the lower 10 per cent rate. They include Canada, the EU, India and the United Kingdom.

China, Japan, South Korea and dozens of others were deemed to deserve the higher 12.5 per cent tariff.

But the EU, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland received some relief in line with trade pacts they previously reached with the United States.

The new levies received swift condemnation from target countries, with Japan saying it “regrets” the duties and Australia’s trade minister calling them “unjustified.”

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Beijing opposed “all forms of unilateral tariff measures” and warned that trade wars were “not in the interests of any party”.

The EU expressed relief after the announcement, saying the new levies were “in line with the US tariff commitments agreed under the EU-US Joint Statement”.

Goods already facing sector-specific tariffs like steel and aluminium will not be impacted.

Certain energy products and fertilisers will also be exempt, alongside products covered by the US-Mexico-Canada free trade pact, a US official told reporters.

 Maintaining leverage 

Washington is separately investigating 16 economies over excess industrial capacity in probes that could lead to additional duties.

These could eventually result in varying rates among countries, experts warn.

The Trump administration’s move to impose a baseline tariff while sustaining the threat of further duties maintains leverage over its trading partners, trade lawyer Greta Peisch told AFP.

It also creates an incentive for countries to comply with trade pacts that they earlier struck, she added.

In spending time on investigations, officials want their incoming tariffs to be robust if there are court challenges, said Peisch, a partner at Wiley Rein and former general counsel for the Office of the US Trade Representative.

“This makes it much more likely that they stay for the duration of Trump’s term,” signalling a “much more protectionist world’s largest economy” moving forward, Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council told AFP.

Resurrecting tariffs boosts government revenues, he added.

 ‘Fragile’ deals 

The Trump administration has been hunting for options that would allow it to aggressively deploy tariffs, said former US trade official Ryan Majerus.

In the longer term, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which Greer tapped to impose the latest duties, provides “more flexibility than people realise”, Majerus said.

Once in place, officials can modify them based on new developments, added Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding.

The latest salvo comes shortly after a 25 per cent tariff took effect on various Brazilian goods, as Washington accused the Latin American giant of unfair trade practices.

This week, Trump also ordered new 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian products, citing Ottawa’s “discriminatory treatment” of American alcohol, automobile and dairy products.

The Canadian tariffs taking effect in a month rely on an untested legal provision, showing that Trump has other tools to swiftly wield, said Lipsky.

This signals that US tariff deals “are still fragile,” he said.

S/N	Economy / Country	Section 301 Tariff Rate	Category / Mechanism
1	Argentina	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
2	Bangladesh	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
3	Cambodia	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
4	Canada	10%	Enforcement Framework / ART
5	Ecuador	10%	Enforcement Framework / ART
6	El Salvador	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
7	Guatemala	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
8	Honduras	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
9	India	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
10	Indonesia	10%	Enforcement Framework / ART
11	Jordan	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
12	Malaysia	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
13	Mexico	10%	Enforcement Framework / ART
14	Pakistan	10%	Enforcement Framework / ART
15	Sri Lanka	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
16	Trinidad and Tobago	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
17	United Kingdom	10%	Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment
18	European Union	10% (Net of MFN)	Total duty capped at 10% (0% if MFN ≥ 10%)
19	Taiwan	10% (Net of MFN)	Total duty capped at 10% (0% if MFN ≥ 10%)
20	Japan	12.5% (Net of MFN)	Total duty capped at 12.5% (0% if MFN ≥ 12.5%)
21	South Korea	12.5% (Net of MFN)	Total duty capped at 12.5% (0% if MFN ≥ 12.5%)
22	Switzerland	12.5% (Net of MFN)	Total duty capped at 12.5% (0% if MFN ≥ 12.5%)
23	Algeria	12.5%	Standard Rate
24	Angola	12.5%	Standard Rate
25	Australia	12.5%	Standard Rate
26	The Bahamas	12.5%	Standard Rate
27	Bahrain	12.5%	Standard Rate
28	Brazil	12.5%	Standard Rate
29	Chile	12.5%	Standard Rate
30	China (People’s Republic of)	12.5%	Standard Rate
31	Colombia	12.5%	Standard Rate
32	Costa Rica	12.5%	Standard Rate
33	Dominican Republic	12.5%	Standard Rate
34	Egypt	12.5%	Standard Rate
35	Guyana	12.5%	Standard Rate
36	Hong Kong, China	12.5%	Standard Rate
37	Iraq	12.5%	Standard Rate
38	Israel	12.5%	Standard Rate
39	Kazakhstan	12.5%	Standard Rate
40	Kuwait	12.5%	Standard Rate
41	Libya	12.5%	Standard Rate
42	Morocco	12.5%	Standard Rate
43	New Zealand	12.5%	Standard Rate
44	Nicaragua	12.5%	Standard Rate
45	Nigeria	12.5%	Standard Rate
46	Norway	12.5%	Standard Rate
47	Oman	12.5%	Standard Rate
48	Peru	12.5%	Standard Rate
49	Philippines	12.5%	Standard Rate
50	Qatar	12.5%	Standard Rate
51	Russia	12.5%	Standard Rate
52	Saudi Arabia	12.5%	Standard Rate
53	Singapore	12.5%	Standard Rate
54	South Africa	12.5%	Standard Rate
55	Thailand	12.5%	Standard Rate
56	Türkiye	12.5%	Standard Rate
57	United Arab Emirates	12.5%	Standard Rate
58	Uruguay	12.5%	Standard Rate
59	Venezuela	12.5%	Standard Rate
60	Vietnam	12.5%	Standard Rate

 

AFP

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