The US President has increased the import tariff for UK goods to 10 per cent – it will be added on to UK good from Friday
Donald Trump has imposed the UK with a new 10% import tariff.
The tariff will be added on to UK goods after time-limited levies introduced by the president in response to a Supreme Court defeat expire on Friday, a US trade representative said.
The UK and 59 other trading partners have been slapped with new tariffs as the US claims they failed to stop forced labour.
The duties range from 10% to 12.5% and target key economic partners, including the UK, EU, Canada, Japan and India.
They will come into effect on Friday, July 24.
The development is the latest in the trade war which sparked once Trump returned to office for his second term.
It was ruled last year by the Supreme Court that global tariffs were illegally enforce, stopping the president from imposing them.
He is now seeking a more durable system using a 1974 trade law.
The US administration says the levies are being slapped on 60 economies “for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour”.
It added that the action followed investigations by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which included public hearings, more than 2,100 public comments, and engagement with trading partners “to remedy these longstanding concerns”.
Mr Greer said: “President Trump recognises that decades of moral suasion have not eradicated forced labour from global supply chains.
“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.
“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.
“I am encouraged by the trading partners who have moved quickly to adopt forced labour import prohibitions, and look forward to ensuring their effective enforcement.”
However, the USTR also said there would be product exemptions, where tariffs would lead to a shortage of raw materials domestically, cause economy-wide disruptions or where items cannot be grown or produced in sufficient quantity or at a reasonable price in the US.
There would also be an exemption for products from the UK and other named countries where “that would encourage these economies to fulfil commitments regarding forced labour import prohibitions or to enact and effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition”.