WASHINGTON, United States
The Unuted States 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 reporters.
The levies are likely to raise costs for businesses and consumers, although its impact could be softened due to the number of exempted goods, said the Asia Society Policy Institute's economic security expert Wendy Cutler.
She added most trading partners would be disappointed with the new levies and were likely to focus on ways to "reduce their dependence on the US" by making deals with other countries.
The head of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the UK had lost its comparative advantage against the European Union as a result of the new tariffs.
William Bain said the EU has a 10% all-inclusive deal for tariffs on its goods, while the UK is facing 10% universal tariffs on top of any duties imposed on individual goods.
"So there will be some concerns in the business community this morning about what the UK needs to do to get the same treatment the European Union has got here," Bain added.
David Henig, director of UK trade policy at the European Centre for International Political Economy, also noted the UK's relative disadvantage compared with the EU.
He told Today: "We have slightly moved backwards, but this is President Trump so anything could change tomorrow or the day after.
"I don't think too many businesses will be changing their plans based on that."
The UK government said firms were facing no changes to the tariff rate they are facing.
"We take forced labour very seriously to ensure that in global supply chains UK businesses are not complicit," a government spokesperson said.
And UK whisky will not be affected by the new tariffs, after Trump struck a deal to exempt the tipple during King Charles and Queen Camilla's state visit to the US.
Other countries have criticised the announcement, with Brazil's government calling the new 12.5% rate it is facing "unjustified".
The Japanese government on Friday said it regretted the new tariffs, while Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said the levies were "completely unjustified".
China has previously said it opposed any form of unilateral tariff, and denied allegations of forced labour.
"There is no so-called forced labour in China, and we oppose using this as an excuse for political manipulation," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
But several international human rights groups have said forced labour does exist in China, particularly among Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
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