Washington: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the new tariffs imposed by the US on forced labour will not hurt the economy as they would bring billions of dollars in investments.
Trump told Fox News that the forced labour tariffs were the “other way of doing the same thing” after the Supreme Court struck down the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) levies earlier this year.
“No, because it’s bringing hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump said in response to a question on whether the tariffs imposed a few days back will hurt the economy.
Last week, the US Trade Representative levied tariffs of 10 per cent and up to 12.5 per cent under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on 60 countries that the US determined had failed “to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.”
“No, no, the tariffs have, I mean, it’s a shame that I have to go a harder way for the tariffs because the Supreme Court in a very close decision, you know, ruled against me,” Trump said.
“Now, I have other ways of doing the same thing, but it’s a more cumbersome, you know, way of doing it. But the tariffs have made this country a fortune. It made the country rich,” the US President said.
Trump said the threat of tariffs also stopped five of the eight wars, including the India-Pakistan conflict last year.
“The threat of tariffs stopped India and Pakistan from going into a nuclear war,” Trump said, referring to Operation Sindoor.
India launched Operation Sindoor May 7 last year, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians in April 2025. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes between the two countries.
India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two militaries.
In the interview with Fox News, Trump referred to his visit to the General Motors plant in Michigan Monday.
“They have the best gear. They have the most trucks, the most cars. The tariffs have saved General Motors. What I’ve done to the auto business, what I’ve done to the chip business, we have chip companies now building hundreds of billions of dollars worth of chip plants,” he said.
“These tariffs, it’s the greatest thing. And only the really smart people or the people that are non-political and that get it talk about it,” Trump said.
“Toyota just left Mexico. They’re building, they just announced, they’re building USD 12 billion worth of plants in the United States, all because they want to avoid tariffs. They have no tariffs if they build their product here,” Trump said.
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