Trump imposes fresh tariffs on UK, EU and dozens of other trading partners

Donald Trump speaking at a rally in Marietta, Georgia, on Wednesday. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDonald Trump speaking at a rally in Marietta, Georgia, on Wednesday. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesTrump tariffsTrump imposes fresh tariffs on UK, EU and dozens of other trading partnersNew tariffs will replace 10% global duty and come after US supreme court declared many of the earlier levies illegal

Donald Trump has imposed a fresh round of tariffs on more than 80 countries to replace a 10% global duty that was due to expire, provoking a wave of criticism and protests from US allies and major trading partners.

In the latest attempt to instate aggressive trade policies despite challenges from the US supreme court, the president has imposed tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on dozens of countries, including the UK, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India, China and the 27 countries that make up the European Union. It in effect replaces the blanket 10% tariff that Trump imposed in February, right after the supreme court declared 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 labor. 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 labor 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 labor import prohibitions, and look forward to ensuring their effective enforcement.”

View image in fullscreenDuring a heated exchange before US senators on Wednesday, Jamieson Greer appeared to claim Trump’s policies had not driven prices higher. Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/ReutersAustralia 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.

The EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the bloc would seek ​clarification from Washington, adding that it 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 was a leader against the practice of importing goods produced with forced labor. “If the intent is truly to address forced labour, the focus should be a coordinated 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.”

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”.

View image in fullscreenTrump during his ‘liberation day’ tariff announcement in April 2025. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/EPAOnly 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% 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% 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 a minute past midnight on Friday morning US eastern time.

The latest round of tariffs invoke section 301, which has long proved controversial and so far been used sparingly, according to a Brookings analysis of the law in March.