The United States on Friday imposed a new round of tariffs on imports from 60 trading partners, citing insufficient measures to block goods produced with forced labour. The duties, set at either 10 or 12.5 per cent, replace an expiring across-the-board levy and follow the Supreme Court’s February decision that struck down a suite of earlier presidential tariffs. China, which received the highest rate, had reached a truce with Washington last year after a sharp escalation of bilateral duties, and both sides agreed to work on tariff reduction after President Trump’s visit to Beijing earlier this year.

The rate each country faces depends on whether Washington considers it to have enacted a legal prohibition on forced labour. Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom, along with Indonesia, Malaysia and Mexico, are among those assigned the lower 10 per cent rate. India, Japan, South Korea and others face 12.5 per cent. The US Trade Representative’s office said the tariffs cover almost 99 per cent of American imports, though they do not apply to goods already subject to separate duties on autos and steel. London stressed that a bilateral deal caps its rate at 10 per cent, leaving the UK unaffected; Brussels noted the measures were consistent with the Turnberry joint declaration and said it expected Washington to honour its commitments.

Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian declared that China “opposes all forms of unilateral tariff measures” and that tariff and trade wars “are not in the interests of any party”. Chinese commerce officials confirmed that the two sides are discussing a new bilateral trade council and studying a reciprocal tariff reduction worth $30 billion per side. The response did not indicate immediate retaliation. In Brasília, President Lula da Silva dismissed the tariffs as “arbitrary and unjustified”, while Australia’s trade minister called them “unwarranted”. With the duties taking effect immediately, the next milestone will be the progress of ongoing US-China economic talks and whether other trading partners announce countermeasures.