(July 24): Asian nations have described the Trump administration’s latest tariffs as baseless and unjustified, while stopping short of any retaliatory moves. 

The US said Thursday it will collect duties of between 10% and 12.5% on imports from most major trading partners, following an investigation into the alleged failure of around 60 economies to prevent forced labour in their supply chains.

The decision “is very disappointing but not unexpected. President Trump campaigned on tariffs and this is the consequence”, said New Zealand Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay. Australia called the action “unjustified” and inconsistent with its free trade agreement, according to a statement from Trade Minister Don Farrell, who said the US should remove the new duty. 

Singapore pushed back against the new tax, with Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan saying there was no economic justification for the action. Japan also signalled its displeasure and is seeking reassurances that the levies are in keeping with the deal it struck with the US last year.  

“It is regrettable that tariffs are being imposed on Japan,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a regular press briefing on Friday. “We are also confirming with the US that, ultimately, no tariffs exceeding those stipulated in last year’s agreement will be imposed on Japan.”

The forced-labour duties aim to restore US President Donald Trump’s protectionist regime after his earlier levies were struck down by the Supreme Court. After that setback, he instituted a 10% global import tax, which expires Friday. The new duties take effect Friday at 12.01am New York time, ensuring there’ll be no gap between the two.

The US allies denied there’s any evidence of forced labour in their economies. 

“Australia’s measures to combat forced labour and modern slavery are among the strongest in the world, and we are recognised globally, including in the US, for our leadership,” according to Farrell. 

New Zealand’s McClay said “it’s just not credible that imports created with forced labour play any measurable role” in the country’s economy.” He described the US Trade Representatives investigation as a “legal pretext” for new levies. 

Others were more sanguine about the outcome. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol said that his nation was “very pleased with the rate that we received today”. Even when the other US Trade Representative investigation into overcapacity is finished, Sun Chanthol was confident that the final rate on Cambodian goods would be 19%, he told Bloomberg TV in an interview in Phnom Penh on Friday.

Unlike the previous tariffs imposed last year, these new levies are less likely to be overridden by the US courts, according to Wendy Cutler, a former US trade negotiator and lawyer who is now at the Asia Society Policy Institute.  

“Our trading partners will be disappointed with these results, but retaliation is not expected,” she said. “They will continue efforts, however, to reduce their dependence on the US market, by forging trade deals among themselves.”

The tariff hikes may not affect a large chunk of the goods heading to the US, as there are a series of exemptions and quotas in place under the various free trade agreements the US has with other countries. For instance, over 40% of New Zealand’s exports to the US last quarter were beef, which enter the country at an almost 0% tariff rate. Australian exports of the meat also face no tariffs.

“I think that the impact will be moderate, and that’s probably already been factored into the investment decisions of most participants,” said Graeme Miller, chief investment officer of A$86 billion (RM245.73 billion) Australian pension fund Mercer Super. Although no tariffs would be preferable, “even if these tariffs are introduced as as announced, I think markets are telling us that they don’t foresee particularly particularly grave consequences”.

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