‘Forced labour’ rationale for Trump tariffs met with bewilderment

Donald Trump speaking with the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, at a G7 meeting in France last month. Canada is among the countries hit with a new wave of US tariffs. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Reuters/AP View image in fullscreen Donald Trump speaking with the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, at a G7 meeting in France last month. Canada is among the countries hit with a new wave of US tariffs. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Reuters/AP ‘Forced labour’ rationale for Trump tariffs met with bewilderment Measures effectively replace blanket 10% tariffs Trump imposed in February that were struck down by US supreme court Donald Trump has once again inspired anger and confusion in US allies and trading partners as he imposed a wave of tariffs on more than 80 countries, replacing an expiring global duty introduced earlier this year. The new measures effectively replace blanket 10% tariffs that Trump imposed in February. The US supreme court ruled many of those were illegal. The new levies come in at between 10% and 12.5% on countries including the UK, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India, China and the 27 countries that make up the EU. What to know about Trump’s new tariffs on more than 80 countries Read more They are imposed under section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, and the Trump administration has said the new measures are due to the dozens of countries failing to enforce bans on goods produced by forced labour. The imposition of the new tariffs led to Asian stock markets taking a hammering overnight. The Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 3.1%, while the Chinese SSE Composite dropped 1.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was the most heavily hit, down 11.4%, while the South Korean Kospi, which is dominated by its major semiconductor companies, slumped 6.2%. It was more of a mixed picture in Europe as trading began on Friday, with the Stoxx 600, which tracks the biggest companies on the continent, dropping 0.7% before steadying to a fall of 0.1%. France’s Cac 40 initially fell almost 1% before moving into positive territory, up 0.12%. Similarly, Germany’s Dax fell 8% before erasing losses to climb 0.51%. In the UK the FTSE 100 index rose 0.28% in early trading. For many officials digesting the news on Friday, the US rationale was hard to swallow. “You can’t say that ⁠for the European Union,” its foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said ​on the sidelines ‌of the Asean ‌meeting in Manila. View image in fullscreen The EU’s chief diplomat Kaja Kallas speaks to reporters in Manila on Friday. Photograph: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters “If you compare our ‌labour laws to the ones of the United States, I mean, we have paid vacations, we have very good labour conditions for our employees, so ‌it’s not really grounded.” Kallas said the EU would seek ​clarification from Washington, adding that the bloc had honoured commitments under a transatlantic trade agreement reached in 2025 and viewed ⁠the new tariffs as a shock. “We had ​a ​deal with America, ​and we have kept