Trump administration hits EU and 59 other partners with forced-labour tariffs

The Trump administration on Friday imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union, citing inadequate enforcement of bans on goods produced with forced labour. The duties took effect at the exact moment a temporary 10% global tariff expired.

The measures, introduced under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, cover 99.4% of U.S. imports but include numerous exemptions, among them oil and gas, fertiliser, certain foodstuffs, aircraft, critical minerals, and goods already subject to national-security tariffs on steel, aluminium, copper and automobiles. Goods compliant with the USMCA are also exempt.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the United States has rigorously enforced its own nearly century-old forced-labour import ban and that it was “well past time for our trading partners to do the same.” He described the tariffs as a response to both a human-rights abuse and a distortive trade practice.

For the European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland, the new duties were calibrated so that, when combined with existing most-favoured-nation rates, the total would reach 10% or 12.5%. The administration has indicated that for partners with previously negotiated tariff caps, the forced-labour duties will not push rates above those ceilings.

Sharp EU reaction

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas reacted strongly, describing the tariffs as a shock and questioning the rationale. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings in Manila, she said:

“If you compare our labor laws to the ones of the United States, I mean, we have paid vacations, we have very good labor conditions for our employees, so it’s not really grounded.”

Kallas added that the EU had not expected to be included and would seek clarification from Washington. “We had an agreement with America and we fulfilled it, at least from our side. That’s why the fact that this agreement is not being respected is a negative surprise,” she said.

The European Union is widely regarded as a global leader in combating forced labour, having adopted some of the world’s most comprehensive due-diligence and import-ban frameworks. In recent years the bloc has advanced ambitious legislation requiring companies to identify, prevent and remedy forced labour in their supply chains, while also preparing an outright EU-wide ban on products made with forced labour. Against this backdrop, the Trump administration’s decision to impose additional tariffs on European goods on the grounds of inadequate enforcement is widely perceived in Brussels as not only factually questionable but grossly unfair – particularly when compared with the United States’ own labour standards and the EU’s long-standing commitment to high levels of worker protection.

European Commission sources noted that the bloc has taken note of the final U.S. measures under the Section 301 investigation into forced-labour trade practices. Earlier in June, when plans for the tariffs first emerged, the Commission had already criticised the prospect of new 10% duties on EU goods.

Other partners also protested. Australia and Brazil called the tariffs arbitrary and unjustified, while Norway said there was “no basis” for them. Canada, already facing separate new U.S. tariffs, responded more cautiously, saying it would continue constructive engagement.

Broader context

The new duties are widely seen as an attempt by the White House to maintain a broad tariff floor after the U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down Trump’s earlier “reciprocal” tariffs imposed under national-emergency powers. Section 301 is considered more legally resilient.

Trade lawyers noted that once in place, the duties give the administration considerable flexibility to adjust rates. Critics, however, argue that applying the same forced-labour justification to the EU – which maintains some of the world’s strictest labour and human-rights standards – undermines the credibility of the measure.

The tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on 24 July, with goods already in transit exempted until 28 July.

With Reuters, edited by g.g.

Caption: A man reacts in front of an LCD board displaying stock prices at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) building in Jakarta, Indonesia, 24 July 2026. Indonesian stocks fell more than 100 points during morning trading on 24 July, following an overnight sell-off on Wall Street after the Trump administration announced new tariffs on 60 trading partners to replace the expiring 10 percent levy. EPA/MAST IRHAM