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.
The European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland were assigned rates that, combined with preexisting most-favored-nation tariff rates, totaled 10% or 12.5%.
The other 38 countries were assigned a 12.5% rate. These include Vietnam, which issued a new decree this week that sets out more detailed rules banning imports of goods made with forced labor, and China.
A U.S. investigation serving as the basis for the tariffs did not provide meaningful evidence to support allegations of forced labor.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas questioned the U.S. stance, saying on Friday that allegations of shortcomings in the bloc's forced labor controls were unfounded.
"You can't say that for the European Union," Kallas told Reuters on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings in Manila.
"If you compare our labor laws to the ones of the United States, I mean we have, people have paid vacations, we have very good conditions, labor conditions for our employees, so it's not really grounded," Kallas said.
Kallas said the EU will seek clarification from Washington, adding that the bloc had honored commitments under a transatlantic trade agreement reached last year and viewed the new tariffs as a shock.
"We had a deal with America and we have kept to that deal, that side of the deal," she said. "That's why this is a negative surprise that this agreement is not kept."
China, slapped with the highest rate, condemned the fresh U.S. move and warned Washington against waging a trade war.
"We oppose all forms of unilateral tariff measures," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a news briefing on Friday.
"Tariff wars and trade wars are not in the interests of any party," he warned.
Trade tensions have clouded relations between China and the U.S., two of the world's biggest economies, as Trump's hefty “Liberation Day" tariffs resulted in a sharp drop in Chinese exports to the U.S.
Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who agreed to set up new boards of trade and investment at their mid-May meeting in Beijing, are expected to meet again in September.
Some Chinese exporters say, however, the impacts are so far limited as the latest U.S. tariffs on China are still at lower levels than last year's rates, which were initially 34%.
Australia and Brazil described the new tariffs as unjustified and said they would seek to have them removed, while Norway said there was "no basis" for them.
Canada – hit on Monday with new Trump tariffs on $20 billion worth of goods – issued a muted response.
"We will continue engaging constructively with the United States on this matter, as well as other outstanding issues, over the coming weeks to the mutual benefit of our citizens," said Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's minister in charge of U.S. trade.
Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell rejected claims linking Australia, a major exporter of beef, gold and copper, to modern slavery.
"We believe that amongst all of the countries in the world Australia does take the issue of slavery, modern slavery, seriously, and will continue to do that," Farrell told reporters in Adelaide.
Australia believes the higher tariffs are "completely unjustified and we will continue to lobby the United States Trade Representative to remove all tariffs on Australian goods," Farrell said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the tariffs on his country were "extremely disappointing," unjustified and harmful to trade.
"Tariffs are not the way – they drive up costs and uncertainty for businesses," Luxon wrote on X.
Also facing a 12.5% tariff, Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry, which reiterated its stance of not condoning the use of forced labor, said it would "continue to engage the USTR (United States Trade Representative) to explore options."
Japan likewise protested the tariff imposed on its exports, noting Tokyo had been reassured by the Trump administration that there would be no more tariffs on top of an earlier agreement on a 10% U.S. import duty.
"Our understanding is both sides are still committed to that," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a routine news conference.
"It is regrettable that the measure imposes tariffs on the grounds of the non-existence of measures banning imports of goods made by forced labor, even though Japan's industry and trade are in line with international rules," Kihara said.
South Korea said it will maintain close communication with the U.S. to preserve a mutual "balance of benefits."
South Korea's Trade Ministry said the announcement eased some uncertainty over U.S. trade policy, but noted that a Section 301 investigation into alleged Korean excess production continues.
The combined duties on South Korean exports should not exceed 15%, the ministry said in a statement.
Thailand noted it is subject to the new 12.5% tariff by the U.S. under the forced labor provision, but the measure exempts around 2,120 items, representing more than half the value of Thai goods exported to the U.S.
Thailand also is monitoring the possibility of an additional tariff on the grounds of structural overcapacity under another ongoing U.S. probe against 16 countries, but Washington has not yet announced those results, the Thai Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
Wendy Cutler, a former senior U.S. trade official, said the latest round of tariffs involved "few surprises" since they range just between 10% and 12.5%.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office spent four months investigating the basis for those tariffs to meet legal requirements under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974.
"Time will tell whether the third attempt to impose tariffs is the charm and this action stands up to legal challenges," said Cutler, senior vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
These duties are less likely than earlier ones to be overruled by U.S. courts, she said.
Further tariffs may be coming in the fall related to alleged structural excess capacity of trading partners, she noted.
Washington is generally tending to engage in increased trade friction, William Bratton of BNP Paribas said in a research note Friday.
"On the positive side, however, these tariffs are lower than the earlier (Emergency Powers Act) 'reciprocal' tariffs and appear to exempt a substantial proportion of Asia's current trade flows with the U.S.," he said.
The Trump administration included many exclusions of products from the tariffs, including for goods the U.S. does not produce, Cutler noted.
"This should reduce the impact of these duties. Nevertheless, they will contribute to higher prices both for end consumers and businesses importing inputs and machinery," she said.
