From 39m agoTrump's latest round of tariffs draw criticism from Democratic lawmakers and concerns from alliesHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Donald Trump’s move to impose a fresh round of tariffs on more than 80 countries has drawn criticism from both Democratic politicians and his own allies.Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, announced that the Trump administration “is imposing tariffs on more than 80 countries for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”The tariffs will replace a 10% global duty that was due to expire for supposedly failing to crack down on forced labor. However, congresswoman Linda Sánchez, a California Democrat, denounced the pretext for the new tariffs as a sham.“President Trump isn’t serious about combating forced labor. He’s trying to make an end-run around the Supreme Court and Congress to reimpose his illegal tariffs,” Sánchez wrote on social media.She continued:
double quotation markIf he was serious, he would not be applying the same tariff rate to China, one of the worst forced labor abusers in the world, as he does to countries like Australia. Then again, unlike China, Australia, doesn’t manufacture any Trump corporation products.
