Swapna Kumbar , Bengaluru - The Trump administration has imposed new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union and China, as a temporary 10% global tariff expired. Washington says the move is meant to penalise weak enforcement against forced labor in supply chains and to give the policy a more durable legal basis.

Under the new structure, countries judged to have adopted forced-labor import bans will face the lower 10% rate, while those without such restrictions will be hit with 12.5%. The duties cover a huge share of U.S. imports, though some products such as oil, gas, and certain USMCA-compliant goods are exempted.

The tariffs replace a short-term global levy that had been imposed after the Supreme Court struck down an earlier set of emergency tariffs. Trade partners from Canada and Mexico to the U.K., the EU and Asian economies have criticised the forced-labor rationale, but most have also signalled they will continue negotiating rather than immediately retaliate.

The new duties mark a major escalation in U.S. trade policy and appear designed to rebuild a broad tariff wall under a different legal authority. With the 10% stopgap now gone, the immediate question is whether Washington’s trading partners accept the new regime or push back harder in the weeks ahead.