USTR finalized Section 301 tariff action against 60 economies after determining that each had not put in place, or was not properly policing, a ban on importing goods made with forced labor. Additional duties of 10% or 12.5% take effect on most imports from those trading partners from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on 24 July 2026, the same moment the temporary 10% global duty imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 lapses.
The new rates sit under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings 9903.05.20 through 9903.05.84. Economies that pledged to adopt and enforce a forced-labor import ban qualify for the lower 10% rate, a group covering 19 of the 60 covered partners; the remaining 41, which have not adopted such a prohibition, are assessed at 12.5%. Five economies fall outside that split. In the European Union and Taiwan, products carrying an existing Column 1 duty of 10% or above see no further increase, while products below that level are lifted to a combined 10% rate. Japan, South Korea and Switzerland follow the same mechanism around a 12.5% threshold.
Goods already carrying Section 232 duties under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 are exempt from the new action, so the two measures will not compound on the same product, though other tariff programs continue to apply on their own terms. Also excluded are informational materials, donations and accompanied baggage, along with certain raw materials that could become scarce domestically if taxed, products whose taxation could cause wider economic disruption, and goods that cannot be produced in sufficient volume in the United States or sourced elsewhere. A separate carve-out applies to cargo that had already been loaded onto a vessel and was in transit on its final leg before the 24 July cut-off, provided it is entered for consumption before 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on 28 July 2026.
USTR will also set up three-year tariff-rate quotas for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia, aimed at pulling more US-origin textile inputs into supply chains that currently rely on higher-risk sourcing.
The tariff framework follows determinations and proposed measures USTR published on 2 June 2026, and its start has been set to coincide exactly with the Section 122 duty's expiry, leaving no gap between the old blanket rate and the new economy-specific structure. For companies importing from the 60 covered economies, duty exposure now depends on both country of origin and, for the European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland, the Column 1 rate already carried by the product, adding a further variable to landed-cost calculations.
Classification and country-of-origin work will carry more weight wherever a shipment might qualify for an exclusion or the in-transit window, and confirming how the new duties sit alongside existing Section 232 coverage will need to happen product by product to avoid over- or under-calculating exposure. US Customs and Border Protection's guidance on entry procedures under the new subheadings will determine how quickly affected shipments can be reclassified, while the pending textile quotas for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia add a separate consideration for supply chains weighing a shift toward US-origin inputs.
Source: EY Global Tax Alert, "USTR finalizes Section 301 forced labor tariffs on 60 economies; additional tariffs of 10% or 12.5% take effect 24 July 2026."
