On July 24, 2026, the Trump administration put new tariffs (taxes on imported goods) on more than 80 countries, replacing a temporary 10% tax on all imports that was set to expire that same day. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the move, saying the targeted countries failed to "impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor" (The Guardian).

How many countries are affected depends on who you ask. Reuters reported 60 trading partners, matching the number used in the US government's official investigation process (Reuters). But Congressman Brendan Boyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said 85 countries were targeted, and Brazil's government said 84 other nations were affected, meaning 85 in total (The Guardian). The US Trade Representative's press release announcing the action is dated July 23, 2026 (USTR).

The new tax rates range from 10% to 12.5%, according to France24 (France24). Brazil's rate was set at 12.5%, which its government called "completely arbitrary and unjustified." Congresswoman Linda Sánchez said the same rate was applied to both China and Australia. A government filing dated July 23, 2026 proposed applying a 12.5% tariff on "every other economy" covered by the investigations (USTR Federal Register Notice).

These tariffs were months in the making. The US Trade Representative's office conducted 60 investigations into whether other countries were failing to crack down on forced labor, with results announced in early June 2026 (USTR). Reuters reported on June 3 that the administration proposed tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from 60 countries after those findings (Reuters). The New York Times described the proposal as targeting "59 Countries and the European Union." France24 reported that the 60 targeted countries account for 99% of US imports. The White House formalized the action on July 23, 2026 (White House).

The new tariffs replaced a 10% tax on all imported goods that had been imposed in February 2026. That earlier tax was meant to last 150 days and was described by the White House as addressing "fundamental international payment problems" (White House) (White House).

This is part of a rapid series of trade actions. On July 16, the US imposed new 25% tariffs on some goods from Brazil (Reuters). On July 20, the US imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products using a law from 1930 that Reuters said had never been used before (Reuters). The same day, the White House issued proclamations imposing additional duties on Canadian motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages, and dairy, along with actions on aluminum and defense supply chains (White House).

Not all of the pushback came from other countries. Politico reported that some of Trump's own allies and White House sources raised concerns about the latest round of tariffs (The Guardian).

Separately, the Pentagon's official online list of service members killed in the ongoing Iran war did not include four soldiers who died during renewed fighting over the weekend, even though their names appeared in a Pentagon press release (The Guardian).

The broader context here is a pattern of stacking one trade action on top of another, using different legal tools each time. What makes the forced labor tariffs unusual is that they tie access to the US market to how other countries police labor standards inside their own borders. Since the targeted countries account for 99% of US imports, the new system effectively replaces the old flat 10% tax with one that charges different rates depending on whether a country is seen as doing enough about forced labor. The gap between the 60-country framework from the investigations and the 85-country figure cited by lawmakers and Brazil suggests the final action may have gone beyond the original scope, though the US government has not explained the difference. For other countries, the big question is whether the 12.5% rate is where things stop, or just the starting point for more.