President Trump slapped new tariffs on 60 trading partners Friday and renegotiated the Gordie Howe Bridge deal so the United States collects half the profits — the kind of hard-nosed economic nationalism working Americans voted for.

The same globalist class that spent decades offshoring American factory jobs is now warning about "trade wars" and higher prices. But the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says these duties target countries that refuse to ban imports made with forced labor. And on the bridge, Trump turned a deal negotiated by a prior administration — one where Canada financed and built the $2.7 billion crossing and kept the revenue — into a contract where America gets a 50 percent profit cut.

As a temporary 10 percent tariff expired at midnight, the administration replaced it with duties under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, according to the Daily Caller. Countries that have failed to adopt forced labor import prohibitions — including China, Taiwan, Australia, and the European Union — face a 12.5 percent rate. Nations that have at least committed to enforce such bans, including Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and India, face 10 percent. Oil, gas, fertilizer, and goods qualifying under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement are exempt.

USTR stated plainly: "President Trump is tackling modern-day slavery at its source by requiring our trading partners to enact and enforce import bans to ensure products made by workers under such horrifying conditions are no longer traded in global commerce." CBS News framed the story around Ontario Premier Doug Ford's complaint that Trump "ran on lowering cost of goods" but is "pushing prices higher for Americans" — the standard establishment press line that treats any tariff as a consumer tax while ignoring the wage destruction from trade deals that hollowed out the industrial Midwest.

Ford told CBS News: "We didn't start this trade war. President Trump decided to economically attack Canada." He added: "When someone comes up and punches you in the face, not once, not twice, 10 times, you have to stand up to that person." Canada retaliated by rescinding U.S. invitations to the Gordie Howe Bridge opening ceremony. A soloist performed "O Canada" at Friday's brief event. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was not played.

Trump responded on Truth Social: "Canada disinvited the United States of America to the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is fine, considering they are paying substantial TARIFFS to the United States, but the original Deal on the Bridge, which was terribly negotiated by a previous Administration, no longer stands. We changed the terms of the Deal so that the United States of America now gets 50% of the Profit." The New York Post reported that the U.S. also secured veto power over any toll hike above 10 percent of current rates. Commercial vehicles pay up to $12 per axle; personal cars up to $8.

Trump also announced 50 percent tariffs on nearly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods — including down feathers, hockey equipment, milk, honey, and alcohol — set to begin in late August. The administration said these levies respond to Canada's retaliatory measures from last year, including Canadian tariffs on auto imports and provincial bans on U.S. liquor sales.

Two small businesses, Burlap & Barrel and Collective Horology, filed suit Friday challenging the tariffs, represented by the Liberty Justice Center — the same group that successfully challenged Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs in 2025 after the Supreme Court ruled the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize them. The plaintiffs argue USTR imposed "near-uniform tariffs across 60 materially different economies" without country-specific findings required under Section 301.

Follow the money: The New York Post noted that Trump's February threat to block the bridge came after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met with Matthew Moroun, owner of the competing Ambassador Bridge. Moroun donated $1 million to the Trump-aligned PAC MAGA Inc. on January 16, 2025.

Canada paid for the bridge. America now owns half the revenue. The question is whether this deal-making delivers for the workers who sent Trump to Washington — or whether the lobbying class always finds its cut.