Posted Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 7:39amFri 24 Jul 2026 at 7:39am, updated Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 7:53amFri 24 Jul 2026 at 7:53amDonald Trump has introduced a range of tariffs during both his terms. (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)The Trump administration has confirmed a 12.5 per cent tariff will be placed on Australian exports to the US from later today (AEST).The new levy will replace a temporary 10 per cent tariff that was set to expire at the same time.Dozens of other countries will also be hit with new tariffs, which were first proposed last month after a US trade investigation into forced labour.The US has now announced the proposed tariff will take effect from 12:01am Friday, local time (2:01pm Friday AEST). But some countries, including the UK, will only be subject to a smaller 10 per cent tariff.The Trump administration argues the US is introducing the tariff to take action against forced labour and slavery. It argues the US doing its part to combat forced labour but other countries are not, putting American companies at a competitive disadvantage.However, many analysts say US President Donald Trump is simply trying to replace the tariffs that were invalidated by the US Supreme Court earlier this year, and the forced labour investigation is merely a pretext."As expected, the administration is well on its way toward ensuring that, through a patchwork of investigations, the United States will ultimately have tariffs similar to those [previous tariffs]," Council on Foreign Relations president Michael Froman recently wrote.The Australian government and Business Council of Australia made formal submissions opposing the tariff during a consultation period, which ended earlier this month.