US readies new tariffs as Trump’s 10% global levy to expire

The United States is acting soon on a host of new tariffs targeting dozens of countries, trade envoy Jamieson Greer said Tuesday, with President Donald Trump’s temporary global levy due to expire this week.

The Trump administration has prepared fresh tariffs targeting 60 trading partners over their alleged failures to act against forced labor, as officials push to rebuild the US leader’s trade agenda after legal setbacks.

“The US has laws to prohibit trading goods with forced labor. Other countries, most don’t have a law, those that do don’t really enforce it,” Greer told CNBC on Tuesday.

“We expect to see some action soon,” he added, although saying he could not specify a timeline.

While Trump imposed a 10-percent global duty this year after a swath of his tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court in February, this levy expires Friday.

Analysts expect that new planned tariffs over forced labor concerns — ranging between 10 percent and 12.5 percent — would replace the temporary duties.

Greer added Tuesday that the new action will cover the vast majority of US trade.

But these moves could reignite tensions with major US trading partners. The European Union, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan are all among targeted economies.

Already, the EU previously said that it considers tariffs imposed on these grounds to be “unjustified.”

Trump has also unleashed other duties and trade investigations as he presses US partners for further leverage:

— A 25-percent tariff on various Brazilian goods taking effect Wednesday;

— A 50-percent tariff on many Canadian products kicking in August 19;

— Trade probes on 16 trading partners over excess industrial capacity.

– Adding pressure –

Washington announced Monday a sharp 50-percent tariff on many Canadian products, starting in 30 days, as US-Mexico talks over a North American free trade pact intensify.

Greer is set to travel to Mexico from Wednesday to Friday for discussions linked to the joint review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

But negotiations with Canada have proceeded at a slower pace.

Some lawyers see Trump’s use of an untested legal provision — Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 — as a means to gain leverage over Canada in USMCA negotiations.

Beyond the USMCA, trade lawyer Dave Townsend of Dorsey & Whitney added that “Canada has thus far not agreed to a framework trade agreement with the United States,” unlike other countries.

The higher tariffs “appear to be aimed at encouraging an agreement between Canada and the United States, or in retaliation for the failure to reach such agreement, or both,” he added in a statement.

The question, he said, is whether both sides will reach a pact or start a “cycle of escalation and retaliation.”

It remains unclear when the United States will unveil proposed action after its probes on industrial capacity.

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