President Donald Trump's new round of tariffs stem from an investigation launched by the Office of the United States Trade Representative in March into whether trading partners effectively prohibit imports made with forced labor. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
July 24 (UPI) -- Governments across Latin America responded Friday after President Donald Trump's administration began imposing new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on imports from 18 countries in the region.
Within Latin America and the Caribbean, Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago became subject to a 10% tariff, while the Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela received a 12.5% rate.
Argentina was assigned the lower rate because, according to the U.S. government, the country made commitments on trade matters and measures related to preventing forced labor.
Fernando Landa, president of the Argentine Chamber of Exporters, told UPI the measure changes competitive conditions in the U.S. market.
