Trump’s latest ‘forced labour tariffs’: Who’s been hit, how badly?

EXPLAINERCountries accounting for almost all of the US’s trade have been hit with tariffs between 10 and 12.5 percent.US President Donald Trump has imposed new double-digit tariffs on dozens of trading partners of the United States.This announcement came just as the clock ran out on Friday on stopgap levies he announced after a stinging defeat at the Supreme Court.What was announced?The US has slapped levies of 10 to 12.5 percent on imports from 60 countries accounting for 99 percent of US imports, accusing them of inadequately enforcing bans on goods produced by forced labour.“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,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Thursday.“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.”When will these new tariffs take effect?The new tariffs took effect just as the temporary 10 percent worldwide tariffs expired at 12:01am on Friday in Washington, DC (04:01 GMT). Trump had turned to the temporary levies after the Su...