Trump Unveils Sweeping New Tariffs Targeting 60 Nations, Projected to Cost U.S. Consumers $100 Billion Annually

President Donald Trump announced a new tariff package Thursday targeting 60 countries that represent over 99% of U.S. imports, a measure estimated to cost American consumers approximately $100 billion per year in higher prices if it withstands legal challenges.

The duties, ranging from 10% to 12.5%, were introduced as the administration seeks to circumvent repeated court rulings—including decisions from the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court—that have blocked previous sweeping tariff actions.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer cited Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to justify the levies, framing them as a penalty against nations for “their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

Critics questioned the timing and legal basis. Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove observed that the forced-labor investigation concluded “perfectly in time to replace the generalized but expiring Section 122 tariffs,” referring to the statutory authority the White House previously invoked.

Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) acknowledged Section 301 as congressional law but emphasized it was designed “to respond to specific unfair trade practices after investigation.” He argued the current application imposes “a tariff on 99% of American trade, set by Trump, with no expiration, no vote, and no ceiling,” warning that such broad delegation renders Article I tariff powers meaningless.

“The Supreme Court struck down the last version of this policy in February. The response was to avoid Congress and find a different statute and rebuild substantially the same tariffs, effective the same minute the old ones lapsed,” Levin said.

The targeted nations include Canada, Australia, Brazil, China, Mexico, Russia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Since the start of Trump’s second term through January 2026, his tariff policies have cost the average American family an estimated $1,700 annually as importers passed costs to consumers. The measures have also strained small businesses, increased hardship for farmers, and failed to reverse the decline in U.S. manufacturing employment.

The Progressive Policy Institute projected Thursday that the new tariffs would “likely cost Americans $100 billion a year” collectively. Trade director Ed Gresser described the order as “vulnerable to challenge,” noting courts would have “good reason to strike it down.”

“Its vague claims about forced labor abroad do not hold up,” Gresser said. “Constitutionally, it is likely impermissible as an attempt to use a law designed for problem-solving abroad to impose a general tariff increase. And legally, Section 301 requires administrations to demonstrate ‘unreasonable acts, policies, or practices’ which impose a burden on U.S. commerce, which this executive order fails to do.”

He added that the order “neither presents evidence that the listed countries are buying goods made with the use of forced labor, nor demonstrates that if they were, this would impose the statutorily required ‘burden on US commerce.'”

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, called the tariffs “more of the same: a nationwide sales tax that will make life even harder for families already struggling under the costs of Trump’s reckless war in Iran.”

— Common Dreams

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