The United States has imposed a 12.5 percent tariff on Egyptian goods as part of a new round of trade measures targeting around 60 trading partners that took effect on Friday, 24 July.
According to the US administration, the tariffs are linked to a Section 301 investigation examining whether countries have taken sufficient action to prevent goods produced through forced labour from entering their supply chains.
Countries without forced-labour import bans, including Egypt, are subject to the higher 12.5 percent rate, while those with stronger enforcement measures face a 10 percent tariff.
In a statement, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the United States has prohibited forced-labour imports for nearly a century and that the new measures are intended to encourage trading partners to adopt similar standards.
The tariffs, which range from 10 percent to 12.5 percent, replace a temporary global tariff introduced earlier this year. Countries with existing trade agreements with Washington, including the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan, will have the duties applied in line with those agreements.
The measures exempt products already subject to sector-specific tariffs, such as steel, aluminium, automobiles, and pharmaceuticals, as well as certain energy products, food, fertilisers, and goods covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The latest tariffs are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reshape US trade policy through new import duties and trade investigations targeting several major trading partners.
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