Donald Trump has slapped a 10% tariff on the UK as part of a sweeping new wave of taxes on imports from more than 60 countries, taking effect on Friday at 12:01am. The move comes just as the president’s existing 10% worldwide tariffs – imposed under emergency powers after the Supreme Court struck down his earlier “Liberation Day” levies in February – are due to expire.
The new duties, ranging from 10% to 12.5%, are justified by a five-month investigation into forced labour practices. The administration alleges that the affected countries have inadequately enforced bans on goods produced by forced labour. “The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. He called the action “the most sweeping international labor rights action the US has ever taken.”
“Trump imposes 10% tariff on UK as part of new duties on 60 countries over forced labour allegations.”
Trump is relying on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits sanctions against countries engaged in “unjustifiable” or “unreasonable” trade practices. The same legal tool was used to impose big tariffs on China during his first term and survived court challenges. The Supreme Court had ruled that Trump’s earlier tariffs, imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, were illegal, forcing the administration to refund importers.
Alongside the UK, countries hit include Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia and Jordan. A senior administration official said some nations had tightened forced labour enforcement and thus qualified for lower rates. The official added that Trump would “always use the tools at his disposal to achieve his trade policy objectives, and that includes tariffs.”
The tariffs cover 99% of US imports. Meanwhile, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office has launched a separate probe into whether 16 other countries – accounting for 70% of US imports – have overproduced goods, putting American companies at a disadvantage. That investigation has not yet concluded, suggesting more tariffs could follow.
Trump previously warned he would impose a 100% tariff on the UK if London levied a digital tax on American companies. The latest salvo escalates the global trade war he reignited last year by overturning decades of US policy favouring lower trade barriers.