A truck enters the United States at the Canada-US border in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec on June 30. (Andrej Ivanov/Bloomberg)
key takeaways:
- The Trump administration is set to impose tariffs on dozens of economies through July 24 to plug the gap once the temporary 10% tariffs expire.
- The proposed Section 301 fees range from 10% to 12.5% across 60 trading partners, reportedly citing lax forced-labor standards.
- Jamison Greer said action is imminent, while separate excess capacity tariffs require public comment and hearings and are not expected until July 24.
President Donald Trump is set to impose new tariffs on products from dozens of economies by July 24, according to people familiar with the matter, a move to ensure his tariff regime remains intact even after the stopgap 10% global tariffs expire.
Connected: Trump’s Section 122 tariffs expire on July 24: Then what?
The Trump administration last month proposed new tariffs of at least 10% on 60 trading partners over what it said were lax forced-labor standards. The president’s team is preparing to implement the duties by the end of the week, although it is unclear whether they will differ from the initial proposal, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss the plans before they become public.
Trump’s temporary tariffs are set to expire on July 24, and if the next round of levies are enacted by then, the White House will avoid any difference between the two. The plan is not final and is subject to change.
The President imposed a 10% rate across the board after the Supreme Court struck down his previous global tariffs earlier this year.
The duty was imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act, which allows the President to impose a 10% import surcharge for 150 days to address a balance of payments deficit. The US Court of International Trade also rejected that tariff but limited the relief to the plaintiffs and largely upheld it for other importers.
By moving forward with the latest proposal, Trump would strengthen his commitment to the tariffs despite voters’ concerns about the cost of living in the November midterm elections.
Critics of his policies argue that import taxes raise the price of consumer goods, but the President and top administration officials say the tariffs are necessary to rebuild American manufacturing power and protect domestic industries.
The administration this week vowed to impose 50% tariffs on many Canadian goods, dramatically escalating Trump’s long-running trade fight with America’s northern neighbor. The US last week imposed 25% tariffs on several Brazilian products.
Under a proposal from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to address forced labor used to make imported goods, a 10% tariff would be imposed on goods from dozens of economies, including Canada, Mexico, the European Union and Taiwan. There will be a 12.5% levy on products imported into the US from other major economies, including China, India and Japan.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said final implementation of the forced labor investigation is imminent on July 21, though he declined to provide specifics. Those duties would be imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act, which allows the President to impose unilateral tariffs to counter foreign trade practices that burden U.S. commerce.
“We hope to see some action soon,” Greer told CNBC. “I can’t really specify a timeline right now — my responsibility is to brief Congress and other stakeholders before I actually reveal that kind of thing. But we expect action on that front soon.”
However, another potential series of tariffs from a separate investigation into excess capacity is not expected to be implemented until July 24. Administration officials have recently said that the process for them is still going on.
The proposed results require a formal comment period and hearing before the duty is implemented. This means a full redrafting of Trump’s emergency tariffs won’t happen until a later date.
Alicia Diaz, Jennifer A. Written by Dlouhy and Hadriana Lowenkron
