The US on July 24 imposed new import duties of 10% or 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the EU and Thailand, citing those countries' failure to enforce bans on goods made with forced labor. A presidential memorandum signed July 23 invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, replacing a prior tariff layer that expired at midnight.
The world's largest bilateral trade corridor linking the US and European Union, with over US$1 trillion in annual goods trade and a history of repeated tariff disputes.
full dossier ›The new 301-style investigation piles on top of the 30% baseline tariffs agreed in the June 11 deal and introduces a human-rights-based trade mechanism that Brussels and Ottawa find difficult to oppose
Six active US-led tariff confrontations, from the US-China axis to the US-Brazil standoff, are redrawing supply chains and testing every major economy's alignment.
Germany's Ursula von der Leyen has led the European Commission since 2019, setting trade, climate, and defence policy for the EU's 27 member states.