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
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.
He said the impact will depend not only on the surcharge imposed on Argentine exports, but also on potential shifts in global trade if other countries lose competitiveness and seek to sell their products in other markets.
“Given the degree of complexity, not only for access to the U.S. market, but also because of the competitive changes it entails, we are analyzing the impact on Argentina,” he said.
In Uruguay, the Foreign Ministry said it is analyzing its implications, although it indicated the outcome was within expectations because the investigation had been announced in March.
Brazil objected to the decision and accused the United States of using forced labor as a pretext to justify a protectionist trade policy.
Nota à imprensa sobre a imposição de novas tarifas unilaterais dos EUA contra o Brasil
O Governo brasileiro rechaça a decisão do governo dos Estados Unidos de impor tarifas de 12,5% sobre produtos brasileiros em função do resultado da investigação da Seção 301 relativa à…— Lula (@LulaOficial) July 23, 2026
The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Washington “chose to manipulate such an important issue” to impose new duties and noted that the country already faces a separate 25% tariff resulting from a different investigation.
According to an analysis by the American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil, the cumulative tariff burden on some Brazilian exports could reach 37.5%.
In Mexico, the Economy Ministry said the measure does not change bilateral trade conditions, and that about 85% of Mexican exports will continue entering the United States duty-free by complying with the provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
That agreement remains in force until 2036, although the United States recently declined to extend it.
Noticias relevantes de las conversaciones con USTR y el Emb. Jamieson Greer : pic.twitter.com/tXxDo7iPdi— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) July 23, 2026
President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her morning news conference Friday that there will be no additional taxes on Mexican products because exports outside the trade agreement will continue to face the 10% tariff, while sectors already subject to specific duties, such as steel and vehicles, will remain under those existing measures.
She said both governments continue negotiating to strengthen rules of origin and move toward a long-term trade agreement.
Chile’s government said the country has a “strong labor institutional framework” and announced it will seek to be removed from the list of economies subject to the new tariffs through negotiations with the United States.
The Foreign Ministry said the measure “is not consistent” with the technical, political and legal evidence Chile submitted during the investigation.
Along the same lines, Undersecretary for International Economic Relations Paula Estévez ruled out imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products and said Chile will continue to prioritize dialogue.
From the private sector, the Confederation of Production and Commerce rejected Washington’s decision.
Its president, Susana Jiménez, said Chile has built its development on clear rules and open markets, and argued the new tariff represents “a setback” that creates uncertainty for investors, producers and exporters.
As of Friday afternoon, other affected Latin American countries, including Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, had not issued official statements on the measure.
The 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.
The agency concluded in June that the policies of the economies under review were unreasonable or discriminatory and burdened or restricted U.S. commerce. Trump ordered the measures to take effect Thursday after the agency concluded that the 60 economies under review maintained policies that unreasonably burden U.S. trade.
The United States applied the 10% rate to economies that already have some form of import prohibition, committed to adopting one or implemented measures during the investigation. The remaining economies became subject to the 12.5% tariff.
The affected economies extend beyond Latin America to include major trading partners such as China, the European Union, Japan, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Korea.
