A top Philippine business group said Friday it was "very concerned" by a fresh round of US tariffs the Trump administration has said are tied to forced labour concerns.

The imposition of a 12.5 percent tariff is the latest in a series of whiplash US levies on the archipelago nation of 116 million, Washington's sole treaty ally in Southeast Asia.

A 19 percent tariff was announced in 2025 only to be struck down by the US Supreme Court. That was then replaced by a 10 percent surcharge on imports that was set to expire today.

"We are very concerned and surprised by this new imposition of 12.5 percent, which is very high," George Barcelon, chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told AFP on Friday.

"It will make industries less competitive," he said, adding he expected the country's trade department to appeal against the new levy.

The child labour grounds being cited by the United States were "very unclear", Barcelon added.

A 2024 US labour department report listed Philippine products including coconuts and copra meal as having "inputs produced with child labour", while noting many countries made the list precisely because they were more transparent in dealing with the problem.

Philippine trade secretary Christina Roque told AFP the country had a "strong policy against forced labor consistent with various International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions".

She added the country had only yesterday signed off on new mechanisms aimed at the issue.

Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said that while the new tariff was "much lower" than the 19 percent imposed in 2025, the country planned to negotiate the levy downward.

"We will negotiate with the US government through our Undersecretary Allan Gepty," he said, adding there was "no timeline" for that process.

The United States is the Philippines' largest export market, accounting for about 16 percent of goods sold.

China, Japan, South Korea and dozens of other countries were also hit with the higher 12.5 percent tariff.

Cambodia, meanwhile, a fellow Southeast Asian state with well-documented concerns about forced labour at scam centres, was hit with a 10 percent rate.

It was not immediately clear which Philippine products might escape the latest tolls.

Electronic components, which make up about two-thirds of the country's exports, have previously been exempted.