India faces additional 10% US tariff as Trump targets 60 trade partners

The US imposed additional tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners on Friday, 24 July, replacing a temporary 10% surcharge and restoring a broad layer of duties after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s earlier global levies.

India will face an additional 10% tariff on covered goods, down from the 12.5% rate initially proposed by the US Trade Representative in June. The duty will be charged on top of the normal US tariff applicable to each product.

The reduction followed India’s decision this month to prohibit imports of goods made wholly or partly with forced labor.

The new tariffs affect major US trading partners including China, the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, Taiwan and South Korea. The administration said the countries had failed to adequately prevent goods made with forced labor from entering their markets or supply chains.

Countries that have adopted a forced-labor import ban, committed to introducing one through a trade agreement or imposed partial restrictions will generally face a 10% tariff. Those judged to have taken insufficient action will be charged 12.5%.

The duties replace a temporary 10% import surcharge imposed for 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That measure expires on Friday.

The headline tariff on most affected Indian goods will therefore remain at 10%, rather than rising immediately. India has nevertheless avoided the 12.5% rate that Washington initially proposed and the much steeper 26% country-specific tariff Trump announced in April 2025.

That 26% levy was part of the president’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariff program, which imposed different rates on countries based partly on their trade balances with the US. The Supreme Court later ruled that the administration could not use emergency-powers legislation to impose the sweeping duties.

The White House has since relied on other trade laws to reconstruct much of the tariff system. The latest measures were imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act, which allows the US to investigate and respond to foreign practices it considers “unfair or harmful to US commerce.”

Section 301 has traditionally been used against specific trade practices or industries rather than as the basis for near-global tariffs. The administration’s decision to conduct separate investigations into 60 trading partners is intended to place the new duties on firmer legal ground.

The tariffs nominally cover economies that account for about 99% of US imports. Their practical reach will be narrower because several major product categories have been excluded.

Oil, natural gas, fertilizer and some food products are exempt. Goods already covered by separate national-security tariffs or protected by existing trade agreements may also be excluded.

The administration has said the new duties will not push tariffs above ceilings negotiated under bilateral or regional trade deals. Goods qualifying under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, for example, will continue to receive preferential treatment.

For India, the immediate question is which exports will fall within the tariff order and whether companies can document that their supply chains are free of forced labor.

Labor-intensive industries such as textiles, apparel, leather goods, gems and jewelry could face additional documentation and compliance costs. Some engineering and manufactured products may also be affected, depending on the final product-level exclusions.

The effect on India’s competitiveness will depend less on the absolute 10% rate than on how competing exporters are treated. Indian suppliers may retain an advantage over countries facing the higher 12.5% duty, but could lose ground to rivals whose goods qualify for exemptions or preferential market access.

The tariffs also add another complication to trade negotiations between New Delhi and Washington. A US official said this week that the two countries could sign a trade agreement within three to four months.

India has sought better access for pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, electronics and labor-intensive exports. The US has pressed New Delhi to reduce tariffs and ease restrictions on agricultural products and parts of the digital economy.

Washington acknowledged that India had taken action on forced labor by introducing an import prohibition. That change secured the lower tariff rate but did not remove India from the broader trade action.

The administration argues that the duties will encourage countries to enforce restrictions on goods linked to forced labor and prevent overseas producers from gaining an unfair cost advantage over American companies.

Critics said the forced-labor investigations provide a convenient legal foundation for restoring a protectionist program that the Supreme Court had dismantled. They have also questioned whether the same tariff should be applied broadly across imports rather than being targeted at products or companies with documented links to abusive labor practices.