The United States is imposing new tariffs on about 60 trading partners that account for the vast majority of its imports, claiming they failed to adequately stop forced labor.

The tariffs, which range from 10% to 12.5%, are aimed at key economic partners including the UK, China, the EU, Canada, Japan and India. They come on Friday as a temporary 10% tax on foreign goods introduced earlier this year expires.

The move is the latest escalation in the global trade war reignited by US President Donald Trump when he returned to office last year.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that many of the tariffs imposed globally under emergency powers were enacted illegally.

For this reason, since then the president has sought other legal avenues to carry out his emblematic trade policy.

It was last month that the White House first proposed a series of 10 to 12.5 percent tariffs on goods arriving on American shores from dozens of countries over fears they were not doing enough to address forced labor.

On Thursday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, acting at Trump’s direction, said those tariffs would now take effect.

“Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and a distorting business practice to improve the well-being of workers everywhere,” their statement read.

Greer invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which governs the United States’ application of practices that tax or restrict U.S. commerce.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration invoked a different statute, Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, to impose 50% tariffs on goods coming from Canada.

On Thursday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the latest tariffs were being imposed on partners “for failing to effectively impose and enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

The new tariffs apply to the United States’ top 60 trading partners, covering 99.4% of American imports, he added.

The office said Trump in his second term had made adopting a ban on imports made with forced labor a “critical” part of reciprocal trade agreements with other nations.

It said that 10 trading partners had so far agreed to implement such a ban in these agreements, and that other countries had enacted bans in response to its investigations in recent weeks.

Trading partners that have “made commitments to adopt and effectively enforce” bans on forced labor imports will be subject to a 10% tariff, while those that have not will be subject to a higher rate of 12.5%, the office added.

Greer said in his statement that he was “encouraged by trading partners who have acted quickly to adopt forced labor import bans and look forward to ensuring their effective enforcement.”