Trump Extends 10% Tariff Baseline in Broad Use of Trade Powers

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Singapore pushed back against the new tax, with Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan saying there was no economic justification for the action. Japan also signaled its displeasure and is seeking reassurances that the levies are in keeping with the deal it struck with the US last year. 

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The forced-labor duties are Trump’s broadest move toward restoring his protectionist tariff regime since his earlier levies were struck down by the Supreme Court. After that setback he instituted a 10% global import tax, which expired Friday. The timing of the new charges ensures there will be no gap between the two. 

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“The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it,”  USTR Jamieson Greer said in a statement. “It’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same.”

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Greer is spearheading Trump’s redesigned trade policy, targeting unfair practices abroad using more legally tested statutes that require months of procedures and public engagement. The more lawyerly approach stands in contrast to the immediacy and unpredictability of Trump’s tariff barrages through much of 2025.

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EU Response

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One senior administration official rejected the idea that Trump was imposing the new tariffs purely as a replacement to the earlier duties that were struck down, but also said the president would use all the tools at his disposal and won’t allow his trade policy to be undermined by a court decision.

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The administration telegraphed the move last month, when it released the outcome of its forced-labor investigation. Thursday’s announcement contained changes from the original proposal, including India securing a 10% levy instead of an initially threatened 12.5%. 

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Imports such as fuel, foods and fertilizers will be exempt from the new tariffs, as well as products such as automobiles, metals and drugs that are covered by separate, industry-specific levies. Items covered by the North American trade agreement with Mexico and Canada will also be excluded.

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In a statement, the EU noted that its rate, capped at 10%, complies with bilateral trade deal the transatlantic partners hammered out over the past year. “It also provides positive momentum to continue the work on exploring further tariff exemptions and deepening cooperation across a broad range of areas,” the statement from Brussels said.

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Saddling American importers with costs carries risks politically for Trump and his fellow Republicans, less than four months from midterm elections where the focus for Democrats is the elevated cost of living. That pressure is intensifying as the Iran war makes energy, food and other commodities more expensive.

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Blake Harden, a trade expert with the consultancy Ernst & Young, said Trump isn’t finished with tariffs or disrupting the status quo. 

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Much ‘Uncertainty’

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“There’s still a lot of uncertainty hanging out there. We still have the opportunity for a lot of tariffs this year,” she said. “Prior to this week there was sort of just a bit of a lull and maybe it felt like there was more certainty than there is. There’s this thing I keep telling folks: There’s a lot to come still as we get into this year.”

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Mentions of the word “tariff” during corporate earnings calls have been falling back since a peak in the second quarter of 2025, but may see a comeback now. 

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Tariffs were at the forefront of top executives’ worries in the first half of last year, when Trump implemented duties from so-called “Liberation Day” on April 2. The various trade deals that followed, as well as the overturn by the Supreme Court, relegated the tariffs worries to a secondary issue since.