Donald Trump has imposed a fresh round of sweeping tariffs on more than 80 countries to replace a 10 per cent global duty that was due to expire, setting off a wave of criticism and protests from US allies and major trading partners.
In its latest attempt to instate aggressive trade policies despite challenges from the America’s highest court, the US has imposed a tariff of between 10 per cent and 12.5 per cent on dozens of countries, including the 27 countries that make up the European Union, the United Kingdom, China, India, Mexico, Canada and Australia.
It effectively replaces the blanket 10 per cent tariff that the US president imposed in February, right after the US supreme court declared that many of his earlier tariffs were illegal.
The newest levies, announced late on Thursday by the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, would fall under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which is aimed against countries that engage in forced labour.
RM Block
Trump had said his administration would investigate unfair trading practices to impose permanent tariffs as soon as the February supreme court decision was announced.
“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,” Greer said in a statement. “I am encouraged by the trading partners who have moved quickly to adopt forced labour import prohibitions, and look forward to ensuring their effective enforcement.”
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the EU would seek clarification from Washington, adding that the bloc had honoured commitments under a transatlantic trade agreement reached last year and viewed the new tariffs as a shock.
Canada, one of America’s largest trading partners, immediately responded that it “should not be targeted”, adding it is a leader against the practice of importing goods produced with forced labour.
“If the intent is truly to address forced labour, the focus should be a co-ordinated approach through a multilateral mechanism,” Matthew Holmes, executive vice-president of the Canadian chamber of commerce, said in a statement. “The timing of this is somewhat suspect as previous rounds of tariffs sunset.”
Australia and Brazil described the new tariffs as unjustified and said they would seek to have them removed, while Norway’s foreign minister said there was no basis for the new tariffs.
Trump had long viewed tariffs – border taxes levied on imports – as a core tool to protect American jobs and manufacturing, reduce trade deficits and reverse what he sees as “unfair” practices by US trading partners. Tariff, he has said many times, is “the most beautiful word in the dictionary”.
Only Congress has the authority under the constitution to levy taxes. But last April, on what he declared was “liberation day”, Trump announced a baseline 10 per cent tariff under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a trade law that grants the president the authority to regulate international transactions during a national emergency.
That policy, however, suffered a damaging blow in February when the US supreme court ruled 6-3 that the ability to enact tariffs during peacetime still belongs to Congress. Trump immediately announced another 10 per cent tariff regime under another trade law that had never been used before, which limited the tariffs to a period of 150 days. Those tariffs expired at 4.01am Irish time on Friday.
Outside courtroom setbacks, Trump’s tariffs have also proved unpopular among Americans, potentially presenting a threat to Republicans at the midterms this November.
A Harris Poll survey, conducted for the Guardian, found earlier this year that seven in 10 Americans said they paid higher prices because of Trump’s tariffs, and 72 per cent of voters believe the tariffs have had a negative rather than a positive impact on consumers.
This belief persisted even among Republican voters: 64 per cent agreed that Trump’s tariffs had led to higher prices, and 60 per cent said tariffs have had a negative impact.
American consumers have also been pummeled by the effects of the war in the Middle East, which have sent energy costs and gas prices soaring. The rise in energy prices has also led to a surge in inflation, which jumped to a three-year high this May. – Guardian
