The U.S.'s latest set of tariff hikes drew heated objections Friday from America's trading partners, with Europe questioning Washington's rationale for imposing new duties, China warning against trade wars and Brazil and Australia slamming them as unjustified.
The Trump administration announced extra tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 economies late Thursday, saying the countries had failed to adequately enforce a ban on goods made with forced labor.
The move is the White House's first step in efforts to rebuild President Donald Trump's near-global tariff wall 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.
Those tariffs expired at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The new duties took effect at that exact same moment, with goods in transit exempted until 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 28.
The U.S. imposed a 10% duty on goods of Argentina, Bangladesh, Britain, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, saying they had bans or plans to ban forced labor imports but were not effectively enforcing such prohibitions.
