New Trump tariffs on NZ ‘extremely disappointing’, PM says
Friday, 24 July 2026
US President Donald Trump is introducing new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from dozens of different countries, citing their failure to adequately enforce bans on forced labour.
The new levies take effect at 12:01am Friday (US Eastern time) to replace temporary 10% worldwide tariffs that are expiring.
New Zealand faces a 12.5% tariff rate under the decision, with beef and kiwifruit appearing to be excluded, while dairy and wine face the new taxes.
New Zealand rejected the findings of the US investigation which triggered the tariffs, with Trade Minister Todd McClay saying it wasn’t credible that imports created with forced labour play any measurable role in our economy.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the US decision to impose new 12.5% tariffs on New Zealand products is “extremely disappointing” and will drive up costs for businesses.
US President Donald Trump earlier announced he was going ahead with new double-digit tariffs on dozens of US trading partners just as the clock runs out on stopgap levies he imposed after a stinging defeat at the US Supreme Court.
The new taxes - of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 countries - account for 99% of US imports. The Trump administration accuses the 60 countries of inadequately enforcing bans on goods produced by forced labour, following an investigation by the US government.
New Zealand is on the list, and faces a rate of 12.5% for the new tariffs - although it appears beef and kiwifruit, two of our big exports, are excluded. Dairy and wine - another of our two big exports - do not appear to be excluded, however.
Luxon and Trade Minister Todd McClay said the US allegation of New Zealand using forced labour was unsubstantiated.
“It’s just not credible that imports created with forced labour play any measurable role in New Zealand’s economy,” McClay said in a statement. “The [US] investigation just provides a legal pretext for broad tariffs rather than effectively combating forced labour.”
Luxon said “tariffs are not the way,” and would only heap costs and uncertainty on businesses. “That’s why we’re pursuing trade agreements all over the world - to provide our exporters with security and keep growing our economy,” he added.
New tariffs come into play as previous ones expire
The new tariffs will take effect just as temporary 10% worldwide tariffs expire at 12.01am Friday (US time). Trump had turned to those temporary levies after the US Supreme Court struck down his biggest and boldest tariffs in February.
The president was tapping more durable tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits the president to impose import taxes and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices.
Trump used Section 301 to impose big tariffs on China in his first term, and they survived court challenges.
The US government published the full list of countries the new tariffs would apply to: Algeria; Angola; Argentina; Australia; the Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Brazil; Cambodia; Chile; China, People’s Republic of; Colombia; Costa Rica; Dominican Republic; Egypt; El Salvador; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; India; Iraq; Israel; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kuwait; Libya; Malaysia; Morocco; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Norway; Oman; Peru; the Philippines; Qatar; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Africa; South Korea; Sri Lanka; Switzerland; Taiwan; Thailand; Trinidad and Tobago; Türkiye; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; Uruguay; Venezuela; and Vietnam.
Further countries were targeted for failing to “effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour”: Canada, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan, as well as the European Union.
Brazil, which faces a 12.5% forced-labour tariff, called the US move “arbitrary and unjustified” in a statement.
It plans to trigger its reciprocity law — which could call for retaliatory tariffs on the United States — and take a complaint to the World Trade Organisation.
The United States, the Brazilian government said, “chose to manipulate an issue of great importance to human rights and the struggles of workers worldwide in order to accuse 59 countries and the European Union of unfair practices.”
The US has outlined its reasons for imposing tariffs
In the draft notice, it lays out why it is including New Zealand:
“Based on the findings in the investigation of New Zealand, considering the public comments, testimony, and the advice of the Section 301 Committee, as well as the advice of advisory committees, and in accordance with the specific direction of the President, the Trade Representative has determined to impose 12.5 per cent tariffs on products of New Zealand, except as provided in Annex I and Annex II, Part A, of this Notice.
“The Trade Representative has determined, in accordance with the specific direction of the President that the tariff rate to be applied, and the scope of tariffs and exemptions are appropriate to obtain the elimination of the acts, policies, and practices determined to be actionable in the investigation.”
More Section 301 tariffs are likely coming: The US Trade Representative’s office has launched a probe into whether 16 countries — accounting for 70% of US imports — have overproduced goods, pushing down prices and putting US companies at a disadvantage in global markets. The administration has yet to complete that investigation.
Trump last year overturned decades of US policy that favoured lower tariffs and ever-freer trade. Invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), he imposed double-digit tariffs on imports from almost every country on Earth, saying America’s long-standing trade deficit amounted to a national emergency.
But the US Supreme Court ruled that IEEPA did not authorise tariffs. The decision forced the administration to pay refunds to importers that had paid the tariffs.
In response, Trump announced 10% worldwide tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. But he can only use Section 122 levies for 150 days; time runs out on them Friday.
The administration initially proposed the forced labour tariffs last month. Since then, some countries have tightened forced labour enforcement and qualified for lower tariffs, said a senior administration official who spoke under condition of anonymity. For example, the official said, the tariff on imports from India initially was set at 12.5% but now will be 10%.
Some products — including oil and gas and fertiliser — are exempted from the new tariffs.
Tariffs are paid by companies in the United States that import foreign products. The importers usually try to pass along the cost by charging consumers higher prices.
Human rights watchers say that it’s reasonable to be sceptical of the motivation behind the tariffs. But they say the levies could make an impact on the problem of forced labour.
Forced labour is defined by the International Labour Organisation Forced Labour Convention of 1930 as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself (or herself) voluntarily.”
According to the latest statistics from the ILO, which is a UN agency focused on human and labour rights, about 27.6 million people were in forced labour worldwide on any given day in 2021.
– AP and Stuff