US seeks fresh legal ground to impose tariffs on partners

File: Container ships wait to load and offload goods in port during a 21-day nationwide lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cape Town, South Africa, April 17, 2020.

Experts say the United States is pivoting to a new legal strategy to impose tariffs on its trade partners, following a significant blow to President Donald Trump’s economic agenda.

This comes after the US Supreme Court struck down a key pillar of the administration’s tariff policy in February, ruling that the President exceeded his authority under emergency laws.

In a fresh move, the US has now announced a targeted probe into whether sixty nations-including South Africa-are doing enough to block goods produced with forced labour.

US to probe 60 nations over forced labour prevention efforts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cq0r2a-jPo

The investigation has raised fears of looming trade restrictions and new duties for South African exporters. International trade lawyer Kholofelo Kugler explains.

“The 24th of February, the Section 122 tariffs came into force, whereby the Trump administration levied a 10% duty on all countries. As you know, that that measure will expire in 150 days from the day that it was imposed. So essentially, by midnight on the 24th of July, 2026. So essentially, these investigations seek to counteract the expiry of those Section 1 to 2 tariffs.”

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