Trump plans tariffs on 60 countries including UK over ‘forced labour’

Holly Williams, Press Association Business Editor

US President Donald Trump has announced plans for more sweeping tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 countries including the UK and EU over forced labour concerns.

The US Trade Department said the tariffs are being proposed against countries it alleges have not taken action to tackle the importing of goods made with forced labour.

The threatened tariffs mark the latest move by Mr Trump to impose levies after the US Supreme Court ruled in February that his “liberation day” tariffs were illegal.

He has since introduced blanket 10% tariffs worldwide, which took effect on February 24, though these were also ruled to be unlawful by the US trade court, which is now being appealed.

The new set of threatened tariffs would affect major US trading partners such as the UK, Canada, EU, Japan, Norway, Taiwan and India.

US trade representative Jamieson Greer said: “The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable.

“This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field.

“We will no longer tolerate this disparity.”

He said while some countries have taken steps to address this, “each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labour globally”.

The US is now consulting on the proposed tariffs, with hearings due on July 7.

It follows an investigation by the US into 60 trading partners related to the “failure of various economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour”.

A UK Government spokesperson said: “We’re tackling forced labour in the UK and in global supply chains to ensure UK businesses are not complicit in forced labour and human rights violations.

“We continue to engage regularly with the US administration as part of our negotiations, and have made clear the actions we’re taking.

“The preferential access that UK businesses benefit from under our existing agreement remains in place and there is no change to the UK’s tariff rate.”