US announces new tariffs on 60 trading partners

US announces new tariffs on 60 trading partners

US President Donald Trump's administration has announced that it will soon impose further tariffs on countries and regions, including Japan, that make up the top 60 US trading partners.

It said that the new tariffs will take effect just after 12 a.m. on Friday, US Eastern Time, which is just after 1 p.m. on Friday in Japan.

It said imports from Japan will be subject to a total tariff of 12.5 percent, including existing levies.

The administration in February imposed tariffs of 10 percent on a broad range of countries and regions, including Japan, based on Section 122 of the Trade Act. But those were for a period of 150 days and are due to expire just after 12 a.m. on Friday, US Eastern Time.

Ahead of the expiration, the Trump administration announced the new tariffs on the top 60 trading partners based on Section 301 of the Trade Act, saying they had not taken sufficient measures against the production of goods made with forced labor.

Under the new tariff, if the current rate on Japanese imports is less than 12.5 percent, it will be raised to that amount. If the existing tariff is 12.5 percent or higher, then the new tariff will not be imposed.

The administration also said that based on Section 301 it is proceeding with investigations into alleged manufacturing overproduction by countries, including Japan and China, and will soon announce the results.

The Japanese and US governments last year agreed that if existing tariffs on Japanese goods were less than 15 percent, they would be raised to that level as an upper limit.