US imposes tariffs on dozens of trade partners over 'forced labour' imports

The duties, ranging from 10% to 12.5%, target key economic partners – including the UK, China, EU, Canada, Japan and India.

After returning to the White House last year, Trump imposed tariffs of up to 50% on global trading partners on what he called "Liberation Day".

What we know

On Thursday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, acting under Trump's direction, said those duties would now take effect. Greer invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which governs US trade enforcement of practices that burden or restrict American commerce.

Earlier this week the Trump administration invoked a different statute, Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, to impose 50% tariffs on products from Canada. On Thursday, the Office of the US Trade Representative said the latest tariffs were being imposed on partners "for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour".

In February, the US Supreme Court struck down those tariffs and said that the president had exceeded his authority as he had not gained approval from Congress.

The details

They come in on Friday, as a temporary 10% tax on foreign goods introduced earlier this year expires. It was last month that the White House first proposed a series of 10-12.5% duties on goods arriving to American shores from dozens of countries over concerns they were not doing enough to tackle forced labour. It said so far 10 trading partners had agreed to enact such a ban in these agreements, and other countries had enacted bans in response to its investigations in recent weeks. But the White House has since looked at alternative ways to impose import duties, including a sweeping 10% levy as part of a temporary solution that is set to expire on Friday.

Reactions

"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," his statement said. The office said Trump in his second term had made adoption of a ban on imports made with forced labour a "critical" part of reciprocal trade agreements with other nations. Greer said in his statement he was "encouraged by the trading partners who have moved quickly to adopt forced labour import prohibitions, and look forward to ensuring their effective enforcement".

What to watch

Trading partners that have "made commitments to adopt, and effectively enforce" bans on forced labour imports will be subject to a 10% tariff, while those that have not will have the higher 12.5% rate, the office added. The action will cover 99.4 percent of U.S. imports and apply to Washington’s top trading partners, according to a fact sheet released by his office.