Trump slaps 10-12.5% tariffs on 60 nations under Section 301, sparking global backlash

President Trump's justification for his latest round of tariffs has angered foreign leaders.

The White House on Friday instituted tariffs between 10 and 12.5 percent on 60 countries around the world by citing Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows import duties to be placed on countries that use forced labor. U.S. trading partners have slammed the move.

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell called the tariffs "completely unjustified."

"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 said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called the tariffs "extremely disappointing," stating that the U.S. did not have the evidence to say his country uses slave labor.

"Tariffs are not the way—they drive up costs and uncertainty for businesses," he wrote in a post on X.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas took offense to the allegations of forced labor, arguing that EU labor laws are better for workers than those of the U.S.

"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.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said:

"It is regrettable that the measure imposes tariffs on the grounds of 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."

It is clear that the Trump administration is attempting to use any legal justification for its tariffs that will avoid being overturned by the courts this time, unlike the president's last attempt. Forced labor remains a problem internationally, but Trump has not presented any specific evidence of any business in these 60 countries having a slavery problem.

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Trump Loses Patience Over Iran War

The U.S. president is on the fritz over his inability to end the Iran war.

Donald Trump was overheard roaring and cursing inside the Oval Office, "unleashing a series of expletives" while referring to Iran's leadership as "scumbags" and "lunatics," an insider told The Wall Street Journal late Thursday.

The war that Trump initially claimed would last just a few weeks is now entering its fifth month, with no end in sight. That reality has haunted Trump, according to the Journal, as advisers fear that the conflict could consume the final years of his presidency.

Trump effectively threw up his hands when the preliminary peace deal signed by both countries collapsed weeks ago, claiming that he couldn't—and wouldn't—negotiate with Tehran.

"I don't want to deal with them anymore," Trump bitterly announced during a NATO summit presser in Ankara, Turkey, earlier this month. "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them."

At the time of the memorandum of understanding signing, Trump reportedly ignored his Republican allies who told him that Tehran would never stick to the terms of the deal, overeager to put the war behind him, according to a senior administration official who spoke with the Journal.

Trump, apparently, is only now learning that he cannot run the White House "like a business," and that U.S. foreign policy requires a finer touch than lording around the military's pointy stick. In just his second term, Trump has displayed a penchant for abusing America's might, attacking Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Venezuela. Earlier this week, he reportedly mulled intervening in an eighth country.