Trump imposes forced labor duties on 60 trading partners as 10% US tariffs expire

WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union and China, over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labor bans, just as a temporary 10% global tariff expired. The move is the White House's latest effort to restore President Donald Trump's campaign vision of a near-global tariff after the U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down his 'reciprocal' duties of 10% to 50% imposed last year under a national emergencies law to try to shrink the U.S. trade deficit. '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,' U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. '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.' European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc viewed the new tariffs as a shock and Washington's rationale did not make sense. 'If you compare our labor laws to the ones of the United States, I mean, we have paid vacations, we have very good labor conditions for our employees, so it's not really grounded,' she told Reuters on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings in Manila.