NZ could face 12.5% tariff in US crackdown on forced labour imports

Thursday, 4 June 2026

New Zealand could soon face a new 12.5% tariff from the United States, as the Trump administration cracks down on 60 countries it says aren't doing enough to prevent the importation of goods made by forced labour.

Trade Minister Todd McClay says US President Donald Trump “is gonna do what [he’s] gonna do” as New Zealand faces a proposed 12.5% import tax.

The proposed tariff hits 44 countries after a US investigation into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labour, a suggestion McClay 'reject[ed] very strongly' for New Zealand.

Hearings about the proposed tariffs are due to be held on July 7, 2026.

The new 12.5% tariff proposal follows a US Supreme Court ruling that struck down previous sweeping tariffs as illegal, after finding Trump had overstepped his authority.

Trade Minister Todd McClay says US President Donald Trump “is gonna do what [he’s] gonna do” on trade policy, as New Zealand faces the threat of a new 12.5% tariff.

The US has proposed slapping double digit tariffs on products from dozens of major US trading partners after an investigation into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labour.

The proposal included 16 countries - including Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Taiwan and the UK - which would face 10% levies for allegedly failing to enforce bans on forced labour, while another 44 countries - including NZ - would be hit with 12.5% import taxes.

Hearings about the proposed tariffs were due to be held on July 7, 2026.

McClay told RNZ a new tariff on New Zealand goods would replace the 10% tariff already in place, and “reject[ed] very strongly” any suggestion that “we are somehow part of forced labour”.

New Zealand was an open economy, McClay said, and officials had been making their case against tariffs, “as we do everywhere”.

“But,” he went in, “the president of America is gonna do what the president’s gonna do”.

McClay told RNZ he wasn’t particularly surprised by the 12.5% announcement.

“You remember on Liberation Day we had 10%, and then it went up to 15%. The US Supreme Court found that the legal basis that the president had put these tariffs on countries was not correct, therefore they were illegal,” he said.

That court ruling, which found Trump had overstepped his authority, struck down the sweeping US tariffs imposed last year and set the stage for companies who paid them to seek refunds.

After the loss in court, Trump turned to another law to impose temporary 10% tariffs globally. But those stopgap levies expire on July 24. And a specialised trade court ruled last month that they, too, were illegal – though the US government can continue collecting them while that case works its way through the courts.

– with AP