Trump Administration Imposes New Tariffs Over Alleged Forced-Labor Violations

The Trump administration will impose new tariffs just after midnight ET Friday on dozens of countries over alleged forced-labor violations, according to a notice in the Federal Register.

The duties, set between 10% and 12.5%, will effectively replace President Donald Trump's temporary 10% global tariffs, which are set to expire at the same time as the new ones take effect.

The forthcoming tariffs will apply to 60 trade partners and cover 99.4% of U.S. trade, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a fact sheet Thursday afternoon. The office separately told CNBC that it could not provide an estimate of how much revenue the new tariffs will generate.

The move "is the most sweeping international labor rights action the United States has ever taken — that any country has ever taken," a senior Trump administration official told reporters in a call earlier Thursday.

The official noted that the new tariffs would not "stack" on top of existing import taxes on steel and aluminum, known as "Section 232" duties, that Trump imposed last year on national-security grounds.

Thursday's announcement underscores how the Trump administration is ramping its aggressive use of tariffs back up, after the president's protectionist agenda suffered major legal setbacks earlier this year. Trump has long touted tariffs as key tools for generating revenue and gaining leverage over foreign trade partners, while brushing aside criticisms that they tax U.S. importers and raise prices for U.S. consumers.

The White House recently imposed 25% tariffs on most U.S. imports from Brazil, which took effect Wednesday, and 50% tariffs on a wide range of goods from Canada, which are set to begin next month.

The Trump administration had proposed the upcoming tariffs in early June, after concluding that the targeted countries failed to effectively ban the use of forced-labor practices in trade with the U.S.

The new tariffs are being brought under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, one of trade tools Trump has wielded since the Supreme Court struck down his global "liberation day" duties on Feb. 20.

Hours after that court loss, a furious Trump said he would impose a worldwide 10% tariff under Section 122 of the 1974 trade law. But that tariff came with a 150-day timer that was set to lapse at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday.

In March, the Trump administration announced two separate Section 301 investigations: the forced-labor probe, and another one centered on concerns about excess manufacturing capacity by 16 economies. The latter probe has yet to be finalized.

"We commit to continuing to use tariffs and to negotiate deals to support the reindustrialization of our economy, protect American workers, and increase their wages and shrink our trade deficit," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in Senate testimony Wednesday.