NEWARK, N.J.—As industry experts anticipated, President Trump on Thursday night issued a new swath of tariffs ranging between 10 percent to 12.5 percent on imports from 60 economies, citing alleged failures to enforce bans on goods produced with forced labor under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The new tariffs replace Section 122 duties that expired at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 24, which were enacted following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in February that limited the presidential authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). With more than 80 countries affected, experts say, the optical industry is expected to feel the impact.
Unlike the swiftly implemented and later struck-down IEEPA tariffs, Section 301 measures followed a much longer process, including U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) investigations, two rounds of public hearings, more than 2,100 public comments, and consultations with trading partners, according to reputable news outlets. As a result, legal experts say the duties would likely be more difficult to challenge in court.
In a statement, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said, “The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century and rigorously enforces it. It’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same.”
The tariffs affect more than 80 countries and cover 99.4 percent of U.S. imports, reported Reuters, but also include numerous product exemptions. The full list of products is published in a Federal Register notice here.
Omar Elkhatib, director of government relations for The Vision Council said to VMAIL ahead of the new tariff announcement on Friday that several product categories were expected to be excluded, including certain textiles and apparel, produce and spices, energy products, select chemicals and minerals, medicines, certain aerospace products, some metals, and select semiconductor items. But as of midweek last week, “optical products are not exempt,” he told VMAIL.
In a webinar hosted by The Vision Council in June, Rick Van Arnam regulatory affairs counsel, encouraged optical industry experts to prepare for this outcome. He emphasized that these ongoing tariff developments create both opportunity and risk for the optical industry. Further, he offered insight into the ongoing refund process of IEEPA tariffs, for which the federal government has issued an estimated $80 billion in refunds, through the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) refund mechanism known as CAPE, or Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, which went into effect on April 20.
The full list of impacted economies in the Section 301 tariffs includes Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, European Union, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, 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.
The rates for individual economies, according to the USTR are as follows:
- 10 percent for investigated economies that (1) impose a forced labor import prohibition; (2) have committed to impose and enforce such a prohibition through an agreement on reciprocal trade; or (3) have imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labor goods. These economies include Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.
- 10 percent or 12.5 percent, net of most-favored-nation (MFN) rate for certain products of the European Union, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Switzerland that are not otherwise exempted, as explained in greater detail in the Federal Register notice.
- 12.5 percent for all other economies investigated.
Last week, the administration also announced a 50 percent tariff on Canadian goods under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which will go into effect Aug. 19, but is still being negotiated. The White House said the move was “in response to Canada’s discriminatory treatment of American products.”
Following the introduction of the new Section 301 tariffs, several reputable news outlets have reported pushback and comments from international leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said in a statement that his government believes in the “benefits of free and fair trade,” having signed “more than 20 new economic and security partnerships” and is prepared to negotiate with the U.S.
While this latest round of tariffs was expected, the optical industry will still need to brace for inevitable higher costs and continued supply-chain uncertainty as governments continue to negotiate.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to VMAIL for further updates.
