The Trump administration on Friday will impose new tariffs of 10 per cent or 12.5 per cent on 86 countries, ostensibly over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labour bans.
The measures, announced on Thursday, replace a temporary 10 per cent global tariff that expires on Friday.
The plan will include global and country-specific exemptions based on commitments from existing deals Mr Trump struck with foreign governments.
The Trump administration has received numerous requests for thousands of further exemptions, an official said.
The new levies are the White House's latest attempt to restore President Donald Trump's vision of a near-global tariff after the US Supreme Court in February struck down his "reciprocal" duties of 10 per cent to 50 per cent, imposed under a national emergencies law to try to shrink the US trade deficit.
Mr Trump responded to that ruling by imposing a temporary 10 per cent tariff for 150 days, which expires on Friday.
“Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
His office said the new tariffs punish economies "for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour".
Efforts to eliminate forced labour from global supply chains have drawn bipartisan support in Washington, with Democrats and Republicans calling for stronger enforcement.
A senior Trump administration official said that many goods will be exempt, including oil and gas, fertiliser, certain foodstuffs and goods that are already subject to national security tariffs, such as cars, steel, aluminium and copper.
The latest duties follow an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. That report recommended a 12.5 per cent duty for countries deemed to lack laws that ban imports produced with forced labour.
A 10 per cent import tax was recommended for products from economies that have such bans in place but do not sufficiently enforce them or have not committed to doing so.
