The United States (US) is imposing a 10 percent tariff on imports from Pakistan as part of a wider trade measure targeting countries that Washington DC claims failed to enforce bans on goods made with forced labor.
The new duties took effect at 12:01 am EDT on Friday, right after President Donald Trump’s temporary 10 percent global tariff expired. Washington is exempting cargo currently in transit until July 28.
The decision, published in the Federal Register on Thursday, hits 99.4 percent of total US imports.
The Trump administration is using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to set a tariff floor on foreign goods. This follows a US Supreme Court ruling in February that struck down earlier reciprocal duties. Section 301 carries a history of surviving court challenges, which reduces the likelihood of successful legal appeals.
Washington is placing Pakistan alongside 17 other nations facing the flat 10 percent rate, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Britain, Canada, India, Indonesia and Mexico.
Customs authorities are applying scaled rates to the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan. These rates push their total import duties to either 10 percent or 12.5 percent when combined with existing most-favoured-nation status. Another group of 38 trading partners, including China and Vietnam, faces a 12.5 percent duty.
Vietnam issued a decree this week tightening restrictions on products linked to forced labor. Meanwhile, Washington continues to accuse Beijing of operating labor camps for Uyghur minorities, allegations that China rejects.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that Washington has enforced an import ban on forced labor for nearly a century and expects trading partners to adopt similar measures. Greer noted that countries holding trade agreements with Washington will not see rates exceed agreed ceilings.
US representatives told Chinese officials that Washington plans to restore tariffs on Chinese products to the 20 percent level negotiated during the November 2025 meeting between Trump and President Xi Jinping.
