US hits dozens of trading partners with new wave of tariffs

The US has imposed new tariffs on 60 trading partners in the latest escalation in the trade war reignited by US President Donald Trump when he returned to office last year.

Those targeted, including the UK, China and the European Union, will face a tariff of 10% to 12.5% on all goods, accounting for almost all American imports.

The tariffs, which replace an identical levy which expires on Friday, are based on claims key economic partners have failed to properly tackle forced labour.

But US trade expert Caroline Freund said the move is “not about forced labour” but that Trump is simply “looking for a legal reason to put the tariffs in”.

The US Supreme Court had ruled earlier this year that many of the tariffs imposed globally under emergency powers were illegally enacted.

The 10%-12.5% duties on imports were proposed last month by the White House and over concerns they 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.

The new duties apply to the top 60 US trade partners covering 99.4% of US imports, it added.

The new tariffs were a “like for like” swap with the regime that expired on Friday, Freund, Dean of the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, told the BBC’s Today programme.

Asked about the forced labour justification, she said: “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.”

The new levies show the Trump administration is “determined” to push on with its tariff strategy, said trade policy expert Deborah Elms from the Hinrich Foundation.

It is unlikely countries hit with tariffs will be able to prove that they have sufficient measures to prevent forced labour imports, she told the BBC.