US trade chief to announce new tariff plan on July 23

WASHINGTON - US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will make an announcement later on July 23 regarding tariffs ahead of the expiration of a 10 per cent global levy currently in place, the White House said.

The tariff took effect in February to replace US President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal duties targeting almost all US trading partners, as well as fentanyl-related levies he applied to goods from China, Canada and Mexico, after the Supreme Court invalidated them.

Under a different legal authority, the administration imposed the new tariff, but it can last only 150 days unless Congress approves an extension.

The temporary tariff based on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows a president to impose import taxes of up to 15 per cent to address “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits, is set to expire on July 24.

While imposing the 10 per cent blanket tariff, senior administration officials had been exploring more durable country-by-country duties, using Section 301 of the trade law.

One of the options would be introducing tariffs of up to 12.5 per cent against 60 economies, including China, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan and the European Union, on the premise that they have not done enough to ban the import of goods allegedly made with forced labor. KYODO NEWS