Washington (United States) (AFP) – A new wave of US tariffs targeting 60 trading partners took effect Friday, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
The levies range from 10 percent to 12.5 percent and impact major economies like China, India and the European Union.
"The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it's well past time for our trading partners to do the same," said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
He earlier added that the targeted economies represent the majority of US trade.
The Trump administration has moved swiftly to rebuild the president's tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a host of his duties in February -- dealing a blow to his ability to unleash steep levies at will.
After the setback, Trump tapped different authorities to reimpose a 10-percent tariff on imports. But this only lasted 150 days and expired Friday.
The volley of new duties, initially proposed in June, now takes its place.
The measures were planned after a months-long investigation and are considered more resistant to legal challenges than earlier moves.
Under Thursday's announcement, economies that have implemented a forced labor import prohibition or committed to do so are hit with the lower 10-percent rate. They include Canada, the EU, India and the United Kingdom.
China, Japan, South Korea and dozens of others were deemed to deserve the higher 12.5 percent tariff.
But the EU, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland receive some relief in line with trade pacts they previously reached with the United States.
The new levies received swift condemnation from target countries, with Japan saying it "regrets" the duties and Australia's trade minister calling them "unjustified."
Goods already facing sector-specific tariffs -- like steel and aluminum -- will not be impacted.
Certain energy products and fertilizers will be exempt too, alongside products covered by the US-Mexico-Canada free trade pact, a US official told reporters.
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So I guess penal labour is not forced labour? Let me check the definition.
Oh.
Well it’s not like the US has a higher percentage of people in a penal labour system than any other western nation.
Oh.
Well at least they’re only using penal labour in the common good, and not in for-profit companies, right?
Uh-oh.