The Trump administration has imposed double-digit tariffs on more than 60 countries, using a legal justification that permits the president to levy import taxes and other sanctions against countries found to engage in "unjustifiable," "unreasonable" or "discriminatory" trade practices. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.

The new tariffs take effect just as temporary 10% worldwide tariffs expired. Critics say they are less about cracking down on forced labor than they are a way to replace those tariffs. The expired tariffs were themselves a temporary replacement for worldwide tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February.

The tariffs were levied on countries that the U.S. says either don't have or don't effectively enforce a forced-labor import ban. The affected countries, which account for 99% of U.S. imports, protested, calling the Trump administration's claims unfounded and arbitrary. The tariffs were levied under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

During President Donald Trump's first term, he cited Section 301 to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports amid a dispute over Beijing's tactics challenging America's technological dominance. The U.S. is also using 301 powers to counter what it calls unfair Chinese practices in the shipbuilding industry.

"The 301s allow a permanent tariff without going to Congress to settle the dispute," said Barry Appleton, a law professor and co-director of New York Law School's Center for International Law. "That's what all of this is about. The president doesn't want to knock on the front door of Congress, so he's trying every side door and every unlatched window to get in."

The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said it consulted with all 60 economies under investigation, held two rounds of public hearings, elicited more than 2,100 public comments, and had "engagement" with its trading partners about combating forced labor bans. It didn't detail its talks, saying those were confidential.

"There's not a lot of hard evidence there," said Scott Lincicome, vice president for general economics and trade policy at the Cato Institute. "It's pretty laughable on its face to think that a country like the ones in Europe or in Norway or Switzerland aren't doing enough to police forced labor."

Lawyer Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official, said even if countries enact and enforce the forced-labor import bans, they would still need to prove enforcement to Washington's satisfaction before tariffs would be removed. "This suggests that no short-term path for countrywide relief from the new Section 301 tariffs will be available," he said.

Brazil, which faces a 12.5% forced-labor tariff, called the U.S. move "arbitrary and unjustified."