“Donald Trump hits Australian exports to US with new higher trade tariff over claims of ‘forced labour’”

What actually happened

The US trade department imposed a 12.5% tariff on dozens of Australian export categories, citing a finding that Australia had failed to adequately enforce a ban on forced-labour goods. Three of Australia's largest export categories, including beef and gold, are exempt. The move follows the collapse of Trump's earlier 10% global tariff regime in the courts, and Australian sources believe this action replaces it.

Key facts

• New tariff rate: 12.5%, applied to Australia and 53 other economies the US labelled as having "failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition" on forced-labour imports, per the US trade department statement.
• A separate group of countries, including the UK, India, Canada and Mexico, received a lower 10% rate for lesser enforcement failures.
• Exemptions cover Australia's beef, agricultural products, aircraft parts, coal, oil, minerals, some metals/steel, timber and machinery.
• Context: the US Court of International Trade struck down Trump's prior 10% global IEEPA-based tariff on 7 May 2026 (confirmed via ASIL legal summary), which Trump replaced with a temporary 10% tariff now expiring, that this new action appears to supersede.
• Total scope: tariffs apply to the "top 60 U.S. trade partners covering 99.4% of U.S. imports," per the trade department.

What to watch for

• Watch whether Canberra secures the carve-outs Canavan says the UK and Canada got, given Australia sits at the higher 12.5% band alongside Russia and China.
• Watch for legal challenges: given the courts already killed the last tariff regime on similar executive-power grounds, expect litigation testing whether "forced labour" is a genuine enforcement mechanism or, as Sánchez alleges, a workaround for the struck-down IEEPA tariffs.