US Imposes 12.5% Tariff on Nigerian Exports
The United States has imposed a 12.5 per cent tariff on imports from Nigeria under a new trade policy targeting countries that Washington says have failed to establish and enforce prohibitions on goods produced with forced labour.
The tariff, announced by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), forms part of a broader trade action affecting 60 economies investigated under Section 301 of the US Trade Act.
According to a statement published on the USTR website, Nigeria was included because it does not have what the U.S. considers an effective prohibition on forced labour imports. Countries that have adopted or pledged to enforce such bans will face a lower tariff rate of 10 per cent.
Explaining the tariff structure, the USTR said, “10 percent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duties for investigated economies that impose a forced labor import prohibition, have committed to impose and enforce such a prohibition through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, or have imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labor goods.”
A Federal Register notice confirmed that Nigeria would be subjected to the 12.5 per cent tariff, except for products covered by specific exemptions.
“Based on the findings in the investigation of Nigeria… the Trade Representative has determined to impose 12.5 percent tariffs on products of Nigeria, except as provided in Annex I and Annex II, Part A, of this Notice,” the document stated.
The move follows President Donald Trump’s invocation of Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose temporary universal tariffs after the Supreme Court blocked his broader programme under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the tariffs were intended to push governments to act against forced labour.
“President Trump recognises that decades of moral suasion have not eradicated forced labour from global supply chains. The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century. It’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” he said.
The USTR noted that exemptions would apply to raw materials whose restriction could cause supply shortages, goods unavailable in sufficient quantities from alternative sources, and products from countries that have already adopted forced labour import bans.