Trump Reimposes Tariffs on 60 Countries

More precisely, the administration is reinstating tariffs that had previously been imposed on a temporary basis following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

According to the White House, tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% will be applied to a number of U.S. trading partners. Roughly 60 countries, including members of the European Union, will be affected. One of the stated justifications is the alleged “insufficient enforcement of prohibitions against forced labor.” In reality, however, that is clearly not the central issue.

Here’s the background. In 2025, President Trump imposed the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs, ranging from 10% to 50%, on imports from virtually all of America’s trading partners. In February 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down those tariffs, ruling that they had been imposed unlawfully without congressional authorization.

The administration then turned to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes temporary trade restrictions in response to a balance-of-payments crisis. However, such measures may remain in force for no longer than 150 days. That 150-day period expires on Friday, July 24. Beginning the very next minute, the new tariffs announced by the White House will take effect—once again under the authority of Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act.

An administration official said that many products will remain exempt from the new duties, including oil and natural gas, fertilizers, certain food products, and goods already covered by tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act on national security grounds, such as automobiles, steel, aluminum, and copper.

Products qualifying under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) will also be exempt because of the deep integration of North American supply chains and the high proportion of U.S.-made components they contain.

That said, it remains far from clear how these exemptions will be reconciled with the recently announced tariffs on a wide range of Canadian imports. As before the Supreme Court’s ruling, U.S. Customs officials and the Treasury Department appear headed for another period of considerable uncertainty. Last year, they often struggled to determine which tariff schedule applied to which product at any given moment as shipments arrived at U.S. ports of entry.

Even setting aside the administrative headaches, the broader picture is hardly reassuring.

This latest round of tariffs comes at a time when the conflict involving Iran has entered an especially dangerous phase, raising the risk of further disruption to the global economy.

Admirers of Trump’s supposed grand strategy can now begin devising a new explanation for this latest turn of events.