The US has imposed new tariffs on 60 trading partners — including the UK, China and the European Union — in the latest escalation of the trade war reignited by President Donald Trump after he returned to office last year. The levies, which replace an identical duty expiring on Friday, will see a 10% to 12.5% tariff on all goods, covering almost all American imports.
The move comes months after the US Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that many of the tariffs imposed under emergency powers were illegally enacted. This time, the White House has cited forced labour concerns as the legal basis, claiming key economic partners have failed to properly tackle the issue.
“US hits UK, EU, China with 10-12.5% tariffs on all goods, citing forced labour after Supreme Court blocked earlier levies.”
But US trade expert Caroline Freund, dean of the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, told the BBC's Today programme the justification was a pretext. “I think they were looking for a legal reason to put the tariffs in and that they can maintain them because their goals — and Greer has been very clear about this, as has Trump — is about the trade deficit and it is about US manufacturing, it is not about forced labour,” she said.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the new duties would “begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere.” The Office of the US Trade Representative confirmed the tariffs target the top 60 US trade partners, covering 99.4% of US imports.
The levies are likely to raise costs for businesses and consumers, though the impact could be softened by exempted goods, said Wendy Cutler, economic security expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute. She added that most trading partners would be disappointed and would likely focus on ways to “reduce their dependence on the US” by making deals with other countries.
For the UK, the new tariffs have created a specific disadvantage. William Bain, head of the British Chambers of Commerce, told the BBC the EU has a 10% all-inclusive deal for tariffs on its goods, while the UK faces 10% universal tariffs on top of any duties imposed on individual goods. “So there will be some concerns in the business community this morning about what it means,” he said.