Nigeria was affected following a new wave of US tariffs targeting 60 trading partners that took effect on Friday, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
The levies, which range from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent and impact major economies like China, India and the European Union, sparked protests from Beijing and other targets.
“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,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
He earlier said that the targeted economies represent the majority of US trade.
The Trump administration has moved swiftly to rebuild the president’s tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a host of his duties in February — dealing a blow to his ability to unleash steep levies at will.
After the setback, Trump tapped different authorities to reimpose a 10 per cent tariff on imports. But this only lasted 150 days and expired on Friday.
The volley of new duties, initially proposed in June, now takes its place.
The measures were planned after a months-long investigation and are considered more resistant to legal challenges than earlier moves.
‘Unjustified’
Under Thursday’s announcement, economies that have implemented a forced labour import prohibition or committed to do so were hit with the lower 10 per cent rate. They include Canada, the EU, India and the United Kingdom.
China, Japan, South Korea and dozens of others were deemed to deserve the higher 12.5 per cent tariff.
But the EU, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland received some relief in line with trade pacts they previously reached with the United States.
The new levies received swift condemnation from target countries, with Japan saying it “regrets” the duties and Australia’s trade minister calling them “unjustified.”
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Beijing opposed “all forms of unilateral tariff measures” and warned that trade wars were “not in the interests of any party”.
The EU expressed relief after the announcement, saying the new levies were “in line with the US tariff commitments agreed under the EU-US Joint Statement”.
Goods already facing sector-specific tariffs like steel and aluminium will not be impacted.
Certain energy products and fertilisers will also be exempt, alongside products covered by the US-Mexico-Canada free trade pact, a US official told reporters.
Maintaining leverage
Washington is separately investigating 16 economies over excess industrial capacity in probes that could lead to additional duties.
These could eventually result in varying rates among countries, experts warn.
The Trump administration’s move to impose a baseline tariff while sustaining the threat of further duties maintains leverage over its trading partners, trade lawyer Greta Peisch told AFP.
It also creates an incentive for countries to comply with trade pacts that they earlier struck, she added.
In spending time on investigations, officials want their incoming tariffs to be robust if there are court challenges, said Peisch, a partner at Wiley Rein and former general counsel for the Office of the US Trade Representative.
“This makes it much more likely that they stay for the duration of Trump’s term,” signalling a “much more protectionist world’s largest economy” moving forward, Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council told AFP.
Resurrecting tariffs boosts government revenues, he added.
‘Fragile’ deals
The Trump administration has been hunting for options that would allow it to aggressively deploy tariffs, said former US trade official Ryan Majerus.
In the longer term, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which Greer tapped to impose the latest duties, provides “more flexibility than people realise”, Majerus said.
Once in place, officials can modify them based on new developments, added Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding.
The latest salvo comes shortly after a 25 per cent tariff took effect on various Brazilian goods, as Washington accused the Latin American giant of unfair trade practices.
This week, Trump also ordered new 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian products, citing Ottawa’s “discriminatory treatment” of American alcohol, automobile and dairy products.
The Canadian tariffs taking effect in a month rely on an untested legal provision, showing that Trump has other tools to swiftly wield, said Lipsky.
This signals that US tariff deals “are still fragile,” he said.
| S/N | Economy / Country | Section 301 Tariff Rate | Category / Mechanism |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 2 | Bangladesh | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 3 | Cambodia | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 4 | Canada | 10% | Enforcement Framework / ART |
| 5 | Ecuador | 10% | Enforcement Framework / ART |
| 6 | El Salvador | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 7 | Guatemala | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 8 | Honduras | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 9 | India | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 10 | Indonesia | 10% | Enforcement Framework / ART |
| 11 | Jordan | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 12 | Malaysia | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 13 | Mexico | 10% | Enforcement Framework / ART |
| 14 | Pakistan | 10% | Enforcement Framework / ART |
| 15 | Sri Lanka | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 16 | Trinidad and Tobago | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 17 | United Kingdom | 10% | Forced Labor Ban / ART Commitment |
| 18 | European Union | 10% (Net of MFN) | Total duty capped at 10% (0% if MFN ≥ 10%) |
| 19 | Taiwan | 10% (Net of MFN) | Total duty capped at 10% (0% if MFN ≥ 10%) |
| 20 | Japan | 12.5% (Net of MFN) | Total duty capped at 12.5% (0% if MFN ≥ 12.5%) |
| 21 | South Korea | 12.5% (Net of MFN) | Total duty capped at 12.5% (0% if MFN ≥ 12.5%) |
| 22 | Switzerland | 12.5% (Net of MFN) | Total duty capped at 12.5% (0% if MFN ≥ 12.5%) |
| 23 | Algeria | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 24 | Angola | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 25 | Australia | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 26 | The Bahamas | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 27 | Bahrain | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 28 | Brazil | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 29 | Chile | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 30 | China (People’s Republic of) | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 31 | Colombia | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 32 | Costa Rica | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 33 | Dominican Republic | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 34 | Egypt | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 35 | Guyana | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 36 | Hong Kong, China | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 37 | Iraq | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 38 | Israel | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 39 | Kazakhstan | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 40 | Kuwait | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 41 | Libya | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 42 | Morocco | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 43 | New Zealand | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 44 | Nicaragua | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 45 | Nigeria | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 46 | Norway | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 47 | Oman | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 48 | Peru | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 49 | Philippines | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 50 | Qatar | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 51 | Russia | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 52 | Saudi Arabia | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 53 | Singapore | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 54 | South Africa | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 55 | Thailand | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 56 | Türkiye | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 57 | United Arab Emirates | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 58 | Uruguay | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 59 | Venezuela | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
| 60 | Vietnam | 12.5% | Standard Rate |
AFP
