USA tariffs on EU and Norwegian goods entered into force on Friday, with exports from Norway facing a 12.5 percent additional duty while most European Union products remain subject to a total tariff ceiling of 10 percent. The Trump administration linked the measures to what it considers insufficient restrictions on goods produced with forced labour, a justification rejected by both Oslo and senior EU officials.
The new regime covers imports from 60 trading partners and replaces the temporary global tariff introduced by the United States in February. That measure expired on 24 July.
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the tariffs are intended to pressure trading partners into adopting and enforcing bans on imports connected to forced labour. The measures were introduced under Section 301 of the USA Trade Act of 1974, which allows the administration to respond to foreign practices considered discriminatory or harmful to American commerce.
USA tariffs place Norway in the higher category
Norwegian goods covered by the new measures will face an additional tariff of 12.5 percent, up from the temporary 10 percent rate that had applied since February.
Norway was placed in the higher category because the United States concluded that it does not have a sufficiently comprehensive prohibition on imports made with forced labour.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide rejected both the tariff and its stated justification.
“We strongly disagree with the United States’ unilateral use of tariffs against Norway and other countries,” Eide said in a statement published by the Norwegian government. He added that Oslo had already communicated its objections to the USA authorities.
The Norwegian government said it would continue discussions with Washington and assess the consequences for Norwegian exporters.
The duties apply broadly, although the United States has introduced exemptions for products including oil, gas and fertilisers, as well as some goods already covered by sector-specific tariffs. The precise impact on Norwegian trade will therefore depend on the products exported and the exemptions applied.
NRK reported that the new system covers around 99 percent of imports into the United States, excluding products already subject to specific sectoral duties.
EU goods remain under a 10 percent ceiling
The system applied to the European Union differs from the flat additional tariff imposed on Norway.
For most EU products, the combined existing Most-Favoured-Nation tariff and the new Section 301 duty will be capped at 10 percent. Products already facing a USA tariff of at least 10 percent will not receive an additional Section 301 duty.
This arrangement broadly preserves the tariff ceiling established through the transatlantic trade agreement reached in 2025. However, EU officials have criticised the United States for introducing a new measure despite the agreement.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said the bloc had respected its commitments and would request an explanation from Washington. She described the decision as an unwelcome surprise and disputed the suggestion that European legislation provides inadequate protection against forced labour.
“We had an agreement with the United States, and we have fulfilled our part of that agreement. It is therefore an unpleasant surprise that the agreement is not being respected,” Kallas told Reuters, according to reports by NRK and TV 2 Danmark.
The European Commission said it would continue talks with the Trump administration to ensure that the United States complies fully with the existing trade arrangement.
Forced labour becomes a trade policy instrument
The White House ordered investigations into 60 economies in March 2026. The Office of the United States Trade Representative later concluded that their policies failed to prohibit or effectively prevent imports involving forced labour.
Countries that already have an import ban, have introduced partial restrictions or have committed to adopting such rules generally received the lower 10 percent rate. Most of the other investigated trading partners, including Norway, were assigned the 12.5 percent tariff.
USA Trade Representative Jamieson Greer argued that stronger action was necessary because forced labour remains embedded in international supply chains.
The White House memorandum establishing the tariffs sets out the different rates and the exemptions applied to individual products and trading partners.
Critics of the policy have questioned whether broad tariffs are an appropriate response to differences in labour and import legislation.
The EU has adopted legislation intended to prohibit products made with forced labour from being placed on or exported from the European single market. Its implementation schedule, however, differs from the American system, which has prohibited forced-labour imports for decades.
Nordic companies face continued uncertainty
For Danish, Swedish and Finnish exporters, the new measure largely maintains the 10 percent tariff level already applied under the temporary USA regime. It therefore does not immediately represent a general increase, although companies must still manage higher costs and uncertainty over future American trade policy.
Danish business organisations warned that repeated changes to tariff rules were already affecting logistics, investment decisions and supply chains.
Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, deputy director of the Confederation of Danish Enterprise (Dansk Erhverv), said the uncertainty was already costing companies billions and forcing them to change their plans and supply chains, according to TV 2 Danmark.
Even when tariff levels remain unchanged, companies must account for the possibility of further investigations, product exemptions or legal disputes.
Norwegian businesses face a clearer increase of 2.5 percentage points on affected products. The difference also highlights Norway’s position outside the EU’s common commercial policy: Oslo negotiates its own trade relations with the United States and does not automatically benefit from agreements reached between Washington and Brussels.
The latest tariffs preserve a substantial barrier to Nordic and European exports rather than producing a return to the lower duties that existed before 2025. Their longer-term impact will depend on negotiations with Washington, possible changes to forced-labour legislation and any legal challenges to the Trump administration’s use of Section 301.
