Trump’s new tariffs ‘a sales tax that will make life harder for Americans’, say Democrats – US politics live | Trump tariffs
Trump’s latest tariffs draw criticism from Democrats and concerns from allies
Hello, welcome to the US politics live blog.
Donald Trump’s move to impose new tariffs on more than 80 countries has sparked criticism from both Democratic politicians and his own allies.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer announced that the Trump administration “imposed tariffs on more than 80 countries for its failure to ban and effectively enforce imports of goods produced with forced labor.”
The tariffs will replace a 10% global tax that will expire due to a failure to crack down on so-called forced labor. But congresswoman Linda Sánchez, a Democrat from California, called the excuse for the new tariffs bogus.
“President Trump is not serious about combating forced labor. He is trying to get around the Supreme Court and Congress to reimpose illegal tariffs,” Sánchez wrote on social media.
He continued:
If he were serious, he wouldn’t apply the same tariff rate to China, one of the worst abusers of forced labor in the world, as he does to countries like Australia. On the other hand, Australia, unlike China, does not produce any Trump company products.
This is the same administration that has cut funding to combat forced labor through cuts to the Bureau of International Labor Affairs and rolled back worker protections here at home, while also encouraging companies to profit from some of the world’s worst abusers of forced labor through its proposed U.S.-China Trade Board.
We need to take forced labor seriously. But this also involves solving our own problems at home, including taking on exports of goods produced by American convict labor. Putting more tariffs on every country to anger the president is not the way to do it.
“Trump is determined to raise your prices,” said congressman Brendan Boyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat. a statement About Trump’s latest tariffs. “Their new tariffs are a nationwide sales tax and will only serve to make life harder for Americans trying to make ends meet.”
Even the president’s allies have expressed concerns about the latest tariffs, Politico reported.
A person close to the White House, speaking on condition of anonymity, said:
Nothing you do is of any use without focusing on affordability. This may not be minus five, but it is minus 0.5. Anything you do that is not on the positive side of the scale is a problem.
When you announce new tariffs, it’s not like, okay, let’s see what they do. ‘Damn, these are bad things.’
Another White House source told Politico:
I think Republicans are comfortable with the threat, even though it may have some impact on the market. But real revenue from people’s wallets does not please Republicans.
Any talk about tariffs is bad talk for Republicans unless they lower them.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
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Brazil’s government rejected the Trump administration’s claim that it and 84 other countries did not enforce a ban on forced labor, calling the new 12.5% U.S. tariff on imports from Brazil “completely arbitrary and unfair.”
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The Pentagon’s official online list of those killed in the ongoing Iran war does not include four soldiers killed in renewed fighting over the weekend, although their names are on the list. A press release from the Pentagon It’s about the official transfer of their remains to the United States on Wednesday.
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Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford“It is very difficult to deal with President Trump, who changes his mind every day. One day he will become prime minister.” [Canada’s Mark Carney] side by side with him, and the next thing you know, President Trump is attacking him like a rabid dog.”
important events
Trump returns to White House reporters’ dinner after April attack halts premiere
President Donald Trump will address the White House Correspondents’ Association at a rescheduled dinner later today, nearly three months after a shooting at the Washington Hilton hotel disrupted the event.
The black-tie gathering, attended by journalists, politicians and administration officials, was canceled on April 25 after a man tried to force his way through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun in front of the ballroom where Trump and his cabinet members were seated.
The suspect, Cole Allen, pleaded not guilty to charges including attempting to assassinate the president in May. The dinner has been moved to the Waldorf Astoria hotel and will take place under increased security.
Secret Service director Sean Curran told reporters that an advance team had implemented a comprehensive security plan at the hotel, Reuters reported.
“We’re waiting for bad people to show up,” Curran said. “It’s just a reality of where we are, but we treat it no differently than other sites the president has been to.”
The April incident occurred while Trump was attending his first presidential reporters’ dinner. He had boycotted the event in his previous years in office.
What to know about Trump’s new tariffs on more than 80 countries
Gaya Gupta
Just before a temporary tax on global imports expires, the Trump administration late Thursday issued a new wave of tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% to more than 80 countries. The new tariffs will come into force on Friday morning.
It’s Donald Trump’s latest effort to continue imposing global tariffs without congressional approval, despite a Supreme Court ruling in February that found the US president unlawfully used executive authority to implement global trade policies. Trump has long argued that the United States pays more than its fair share of tariffs and that increasing tariffs is necessary to increase American production and jobs.
Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s latest tariffs:
The ‘forced labor’ justification of the new tariffs was met with surprise
Mark Sweney
Donald Trump has once again sparked anger and confusion among U.S. allies and trading partners by imposing a wave of tariffs on more than 80 countries to replace the expired global tax introduced earlier this year.
The new measures effectively replace the 10 percent across-the-board tariffs that Trump imposed in February. The US supreme court ruled most of these were illegal. The new taxes range from 10% to 12.5% in countries including the UK, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India, China and the 27 countries that make up the EU.
They are enforced under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, and the Trump administration has said the new measures stem from the failure of dozens of countries to enforce bans on goods produced with forced labor.
The imposition of new tariffs sent Asian stock markets taking a hit overnight. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 3.1%, while China’s SSE Composite fell 1.4%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was the hardest hit, falling 11.4%, while South Korea’s Kospi, dominated by major semiconductor companies, fell 6.2%.
A more mixed picture emerged in Europe as the Stoxx 600, which tracks the continent’s largest companies, began trading on Friday. The Stoxx 600 index, which tracks the continent’s largest companies, fell 0.7% before settling for a 0.1% decline. France’s Cac 40 index initially fell almost 1% before moving into positive territory, up 0.12%.
Similarly, Germany’s Dax index fell 8% before paring its losses and rising to 0.51%. The UK’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.28% in early trading. The U.S. reasoning was difficult to accept for many officials digesting the news Friday.
“You can’t say that about the European Union,” foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on the sidelines of the Asean meeting in Manila. “If you compare our labor laws to the laws in the United States, I mean, we have paid holidays, we have very good working conditions for our employees, so it’s not very grounded.”
Trump’s latest tariffs draw criticism from Democrats and concerns from allies
Hello, welcome to the US politics live blog.
Donald Trump’s move to impose new tariffs on more than 80 countries has sparked criticism from both Democratic politicians and his own allies.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer announced that the Trump administration “imposed tariffs on more than 80 countries for its failure to ban and effectively enforce imports of goods produced with forced labor.”
The tariffs will replace a 10% global tax that will expire due to a failure to crack down on so-called forced labor. But congresswoman Linda Sánchez, a Democrat from California, called the excuse for the new tariffs bogus.
“President Trump is not serious about combating forced labor. He is trying to get around the Supreme Court and Congress to reimpose illegal tariffs,” Sánchez wrote on social media.
He continued:
If he were serious, he wouldn’t apply the same tariff rate to China, one of the worst abusers of forced labor in the world, as he does to countries like Australia. On the other hand, Australia, unlike China, does not produce any Trump company products.
This is the same administration that has cut funding to combat forced labor through cuts to the Bureau of International Labor Affairs and rolled back worker protections here at home, while also encouraging companies to profit from some of the world’s worst abusers of forced labor through its proposed U.S.-China Trade Board.
We need to take forced labor seriously. But this also involves solving our own problems at home, including taking on exports of goods produced by American convict labor. Putting more tariffs on every country to anger the president is not the way to do it.
“Trump is determined to raise your prices,” said congressman Brendan Boyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat. a statement About Trump’s latest tariffs. “Their new tariffs are a nationwide sales tax and will only serve to make life harder for Americans trying to make ends meet.”
Even the president’s allies have expressed concerns about the latest tariffs, Politico reported.
A person close to the White House, speaking on condition of anonymity, said:
Nothing you do is of any use without focusing on affordability. This may not be minus five, but it is minus 0.5. Anything you do that is not on the positive side of the scale is a problem.
When you announce new tariffs, it’s not like, okay, let’s see what they do. ‘Damn, these are bad things.’
Another White House source told Politico:
I think Republicans are comfortable with the threat, even though it may have some impact on the market. But real revenue from people’s wallets does not please Republicans.
Any talk about tariffs is bad talk for Republicans unless they lower them.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
-
Brazil’s government rejected the Trump administration’s claim that it and 84 other countries did not enforce a ban on forced labor, calling the new 12.5% U.S. tariff on imports from Brazil “completely arbitrary and unfair.”
-
The Pentagon’s official online list of those killed in the ongoing Iran war does not include four soldiers killed in renewed fighting over the weekend, although their names are on the list. A press release from the Pentagon It’s about the official transfer of their remains to the United States on Wednesday.
-
Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford“It is very difficult to deal with President Trump, who changes his mind every day. One day he will become prime minister.” [Canada’s Mark Carney] side by side with him, and the next thing you know, President Trump is attacking him like a rabid dog.”
