Trump defends ‘slave labour’ import tariff against UK amid court challenge

Nick Lester, Press Association US Editor in Washington DC

Donald Trump has defended slapping fresh taxes on imports from the UK and dozens of other countries as a legal challenge was launched against the move.

Speaking in the Oval Office, the US president said the new levies on 60 trading partners of 10% and 12.5% were “very standard tariffs” that “follow the line”.

The White House justified the charges in law by claiming the economies targeted had failed to enforce bans on goods produced by slave labour.

Their imposition coincided with the expiry of a temporary 10% import levy, already faced by Britain, introduced after the Supreme Court ruled Mr Trump’s initial sweeping global tariffs, which he hailed at the time as “Liberation Day”, were unlawful.

Mr Trump said: “We put the tariffs on. They’re very standard tariffs.

“The other way was easier. I thought the decision by the Supreme Court was not a good one. But we have many forms of tariffs.”

He was speaking after a legal campaign group brought a case on behalf of two small businesses in the US Court of International Trade in New York, opposing the latest import taxes.

The Liberty Justice Centre, which has successfully challenged Mr Trump’s previous tariffs, is seeking to overturn the replacement levies.

Sara Albrecht, the group’s chairman, said: The administration allowed one global tariff to expire and immediately replaced it with another under a different statute.

“Changing the statute doesn’t change the law. Every tariff authority has limits, and every administration must respect them.”

The centre’s senior lawyer Jeffrey Schwab said the legislative provision being relied on by the White House was “a targeted, country-specific and practice-specific remedial authority”.

He added: “It is not a freestanding authorisation to tax substantially all imports from substantially all countries at pre-established rates.”

The UK Government has pointed out there is no change to the tariff rate facing UK businesses as a result of the recent announcement, which would remain at 10%.

The UK exports more to the US than to any other single country.

In 2024, UK exports to the US were worth £66 billion, 17% of all UK goods exports.

Scotch whisky

The Economic Prosperity Deal agreed between the two countries last year aimed to mitigate the impact of US tariffs on UK industries and deepen commercial ties.

Meanwhile, US import duties on Scotch whisky has now been lifted.

The president announced in April that he would remove the whisky tariff, following the state visit by the King and Queen.

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