The United States has imposed new tariffs on 60 trading partners, including the UK, China and the European Union, in the latest escalation of Donald Trump’s trade war – a move experts say is a legal workaround after the Supreme Court struck down his earlier emergency powers.
From Friday, all goods imported from the targeted countries will face a levy of 10% to 12.5%, covering almost all American imports. The new duties replace an identical temporary tariff that expires this week, the White House said, citing concerns that key economic partners have failed to tackle forced labour.
“US slaps 10-12.5% tariffs on UK and 59 other nations, replacing levies struck down by Supreme Court.”
“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.
But Caroline Freund, dean of the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, told the BBC’s Today programme the justification is a pretext. “I think they were looking for a legal reason to put the tariffs in,” she said. “It is about the trade deficit and US manufacturing – it is not about forced labour.”
The move follows a Supreme Court ruling in February that many of Trump’s earlier tariffs, imposed under emergency powers, were illegally enacted. The new duties, which apply to the top 60 US trade partners covering 99.4% of US imports, are designed to withstand legal challenge.
The levies are likely to raise costs for businesses and consumers, though the impact could be softened by the number of exempted goods, said Wendy Cutler of the Asia Society Policy Institute. She added that most trading partners would be disappointed and likely to focus on reducing their dependence on the US.
British businesses face a particular disadvantage. William Bain, head of the British Chambers of Commerce, told the BBC the EU has a 10% all-inclusive deal on its goods, while the UK faces 10% universal tariffs on top of any duties imposed on individual products. “So there will be some concerns in the business community this morning,” he said.