Trump Imposes New Double-Digit Tariffs on 60 Economic Partners Over Forced Labor Claims

US President Donald Trump is imposing new double-digit tariffs on 60 economic partners over claims they failed to prevent forced labour.

The new duties, ranging from 10 to 12.5%, take effect Friday and will replace the global 10% tariffs Trump introduced earlier this year, which expire at 12.01AM on the same day.

The levies announced on Thursday will affect dozens of US trading partners, including major economies like China, India and the European Union, accounting for 99% of its imports.

The 60 economic partners include the European Union as one single entity, meaning the total number of countries affected is more than 80.

"The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it's well past time for our trading partners to do the same," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.

Last year, Trump imposed double-digit tariffs on imports from almost every country in the world, arguing that American trade deficits amounted to a national emergency.

The Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump did not have the legal authority to impose such tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

As a result, the administration had to pay refunds to importers that had paid the tariffs and Trump announced 10% worldwide tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 instead.

However, these section levies can only remain in force for 150 days and are due to expire on Friday. The expiring 10% duties will now be replaced by the new tariffs, which are considered more resistant to legal challenges than earlier measures.

The newly-announced tariffs were imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorises the president to introduce import taxes and other sanctions on countries it deems to engage in "unjustifiable," "unreasonable" or "discriminatory" trade practices.

Countries that implemented a forced labour import prohibition or committed to do so, including Canada, the EU, India and the United Kingdom, will receive a 10% rate. Other countries, such as China, Japan and South Korea, will receive a higher 12.5% rate.

Some products are exempt from the levies, including oil and gas and fertiliser, as well as products covered under a North American free trade pact between the US, Mexico and Canada.

The decision drew widespread criticism from impacted nations. Brazil, which is facing 12.5% tariffs, called the decision “arbitrary and unjustified," and plans to implement retaliatory tariffs on the US.

Washington "chose to manipulate an issue of great importance to human rights and the struggles of workers worldwide in order to accuse 59 countries and the European Union of unfair practices," the Brazilian government said.

Chile also faces a 12.5% rate. The country's Undersecretary for International Economic Relations Paula Estévez said Chile has “solid labor institutions, a robust regulatory framework and a firm commitment to the prevention and eradication of forced labour.”

EU responds cautiously optimistic

The European Union responded cautiously optimistic to the latest tariff announcement, noting that it was consistent with the EU-US trade deal struck last year in Turnberry, Scotland.

"The EU notes positively the fact that this outcome is in line with the US tariff commitments agreed under the EU-US Joint Statement," a European Commission spokesperson said, adding that it creates "positive momentum to continue the work on exploring further tariff exemptions and deepening cooperation".

The Turnberry agreement imposed 15 percent US tariffs on imports from the EU, while the EU committed to removing its duties on most US industrial products.

Forced labour is defined by the International Labor Organisation Forced Labour Convention of 1930 as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself (or herself) voluntarily.”

According to UN agency, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), roughly 27.6 million people were in forced labour wolrdwide on any given day in 2021.