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 when he returned to office last year. The levies, which replace an identical duty expiring on Friday, will see a tariff of 10% to 12.5% applied to all goods, covering almost all American imports.
The tariffs are based on claims that key economic partners have failed to properly tackle forced labour. 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 move was “not about forced labour” – rather, she said, the Trump administration was “looking for a legal reason to put the tariffs in and that they can maintain them because their goals… is about the trade deficit and it is about US manufacturing, it is not about forced labour.”
“US imposes 10-12.5% tariffs on 60 countries including UK, citing forced labour but experts say it's about trade deficit.”
The new duties come after the US Supreme Court earlier this year struck down many of the tariffs imposed globally under emergency powers, ruling they were illegally enacted. The 10%-12.5% duties were proposed last month by the White House over concerns that trading partners were not doing enough to tackle forced labour.
“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. The duties apply to the top 60 US trade partners, covering 99.4% of US imports, it added.
Trade policy expert Deborah Elms of the Hinrich Foundation said the new levies show the Trump administration is “determined” to push on with its tariff strategy. She added that it is unlikely countries hit with tariffs will be able to prove they have sufficient measures to prevent forced labour imports.
The levies are likely to raise costs for businesses and consumers, although the impact could be softened due to the number of exempted goods, said Wendy Cutler, economic security expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute. She added that most trading partners would be disappointed and were likely to focus on ways to “reduce their dependence on the US” by making deals with other countries.
The head of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), William Bain, told the BBC that the UK had lost its comparative advantage against the European Union as a result of the new tariffs. The escalation leaves UK businesses facing fresh uncertainty as the trade war shows no sign of abating.