Hampton Morris is 1st US men's weightlifter to medal at the Olympics since '84. Li Fabin wins gold

PARIS (AP) — Hampton Morris does not have a driver's license. He does have an Olympic bronze medal.

The 20-year-old who trains in his garage at home in Marietta, Georgia, on Wednesday became the first U.S. men's weightlifter to take home a medal of any color at the Games in four decades. Narrowly missing out on a world record that would have gotten him silver, Morris followed Mario Martinez and Guy Carlton from Los Angeles in 1984 as the most recent American men to medal at the Olympics.

“It’s amazing that I’m able to leave that kind of mark in the sport,” Morris said after finishing third in the men's 61-kilogram division. “I’m just in disbelief.”

Li Fabin of China defended his Olympic weightlifting title after going in as the overwhelming favorite to repeat. The 31-year-old set a Games snatch record by lifting 143 kilograms (315 pounds) on his third and final attempt, paving the way for gold when he got to 167 kilograms (368 pounds) in the clean and jerk for a score of 310.

“It was a smooth competition,” Li said through an interpreter. “I followed the instructions from my team, and I smoothly won the gold medal.”

Li became the first weightlifter with back-to-back Olympic titles since Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey won three in a row from 1988-96. Theerapong Silachai of Thailand got the silver for medal at 303.

China defended another gold medal hours later when Hou Zhihui won the women's 49-kilogram division. Hou set an Olympic clean and jerk record at 117 kilograms on her third and final attempt to pass Mihaela Cambei of Romania by one point, 206-205.

Cambei earned silver in her country's return to the Games following its ban from Tokyo in 2021 for past doping cases, and Thailand's Surodchana Khambao was at 200 for bronze. American Jourdan Delacruz was fifth.

Morris, who is coached by his father, Tripp, got emotional with the bronze medal hanging around his neck when he began talking about what his mother, Anne Marie, and his sister, Etta, give up so he can lift at such a high level. His grandmother Debbie drives him to physical therapy every week.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go, so I never had any real need to get my driver’s license,” Morris said. “I’m planning to get it very soon. I’ve pretty much learned how to drive. I just haven’t taken the test yet.”

That is a short-term goal. Doing better in Los Angeles in 2028 — probably moving up a weight class next time — is for down the line.

Until now, his priority was getting on the podium in Paris, something that was threatened when he slipped on his first clean and jerk. USA Gymnastics senior director of sport performance Mike Gattone, standing nearby, said, "That’s the third guy I’ve seen slip on that platform.”

Morris moved the bar forward for his second attempt and was successful on the 172 kilogram (379 pound) lift that put him in medal position at 298. Locked into a medal, he went for a clean and jerk world record attempt of 178 kilograms (392 pounds) and came up just short of completing it.

“I knew I had it in me,” said Morris, the youngest U.S. weightlifter at the Olympics since Cheryl Haworth in 2000. “Any other day, I would definitely have a shot at making it. Today I had a shot of making it.”

Four-time Olympic medalist Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia, the oldest weightlifter in the category at age 35, injured his right hip or leg on his unsuccessful final lift. He limped off with assistance after failing to make a lift in the clean and jerk, preventing him from extending his lead as his country's most decorated Olympian.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Michaela Valentina Cambei of Romania reacts during the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Michaela Valentina Cambei of Romania competes during the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Jourdan Delacruz of the United States competes during the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Jourdan Delacruz of the United States reacts as she competes during the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Hou Zhihui of China competes during the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara,Pool)

Hou Zhihui of China competes during the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Hampton Morris of the United States competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Medalist, from left to right, Theerapong Silachai of Thailand, silver, Li Fabin of China, gold, and Hampton Morris of the United States, bronze, celebrate on the podium during the medal ceremony for the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Hampton Morris of the United States competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Bronze medalist Hampton Morris of the United States celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Hampton Morris of the United States reacts as he competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Hampton Morris of the United States competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Li Fabin of China competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Li Fabin of China reacts as he competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Li Fabin of China reacts as he competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Li Fabin of China competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara,Pool)

Li Fabin of China competes during the men's 61kg weightlifting at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

BANGKOK (AP) — Sweeping new tariffs announced Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump provoked dismay, threats of countermeasures and calls for further negotiations to make trade rules fairer.

But responses were measured, highlighting a lack of appetite among key trading partners for an outright trade war with the world's biggest economy.

Trump said the import taxes, ranging from 10% to 49%, would do to U.S. trading partners what they have long done to the U.S. He maintains they will draw factories and jobs back to the United States.

“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”

Trump's announcement of a new 20% tariff on the European Union drew a sharp rebuke from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said it was a “major blow to the world economy.”

“The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe,” von der Leyen said. Groceries, transport and medicines will cost more, she said while visiting Uzbekistan, “And this is hurting, in particular, the most vulnerable citizens.”

Von der Leyen acknowledged that the world trading system has “serious deficiencies” and said the EU was ready to negotiate with the U.S. but also was prepared to respond with countermeasures.

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said the U.K. government would react with “cool and calm heads.”

“Clearly, there will be an economic impact,” he said, telling business leaders in London that he hopes to get the tariffs lifted with a trade deal with Washington.

“Nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest,” Starmer said.

Japan, America's closest ally in Asia, plans to closely analyze the U.S. tariffs and their impact, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, while refraining from talk of retaliation. But he said the moves would have a big impact on relations with the U.S.

Italy’s conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni said the higher tariffs would benefit neither side.

“We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global players,” Meloni said in a Facebook post.

Brazil, hit with a 10% tariff, said it was considering appealing to the World Trade Organization. Its congress unanimously passed a bill to allow retaliation for any tariffs on Brazilian goods.

Financial markets were jolted, with U.S. stock futures down by as much as 3% early Thursday and a 2.8% drop in Tokyo’s benchmark leading losses in Asia. Oil prices sank more than $2 a barrel.

“The magnitude of the rollout — both in scale and speed — wasn’t just aggressive; it was a full-throttle macro disruption,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

While the longer-term ramifications could encompass a dismantling of supply chains built up over decades, a more immediate concern is the higher risk of recession.

“The (average) U.S. tariff rate on all imports is now around 22%, from 2.5% in 2024. That rate was last seen around 1910," Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings’ head of U.S. Economic Research, said in a report.

"This is a game changer, not only for the U.S. economy but for the global economy. Many countries will likely end up in a recession. You can throw most forecasts out the door, if this tariff rate stays on for an extended period of time,” Sonola said.

The burden falls heaviest on Asia-Pacific nations, with the highest tariffs for impoverished, financially precarious countries like Laos at a 48% tariff, Cambodia at 49% and Myanmar at 44%.

Asian countries that are among the biggest exporters to the U.S. pledged to act fast to support automakers and other businesses likely to be affected.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told officials to work with business groups to analyze the impact of the new 25% tariff to “minimize damage,” the trade ministry said.

China's commerce ministry said Beijing would “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” without saying exactly what it might do. With earlier rounds of tariffs China reacted by imposing higher duties on U.S. exports of farm products, while limiting exports of minerals used for high-tech industries such as electric vehicles.

“China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through equal dialogue,” it said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would wait to see how Trump’s announcement will affect Mexico, which like Canada was spared for goods already qualified under their free trade agreement with the United States, though previously announced 25% tariffs on auto imports took effect Thursday.

“It’s not a question of if you impose tariffs on me, I’m going to impose tariffs on you,” she said Wednesday morning. “Our interest is in strengthening the Mexican economy.”

Canada had imposed retaliatory tariffs in response to the 25% tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The European Union, in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, has imposed taxes on 26 billion euros’ worth ($28 billion) of U.S. goods, including bourbon, prompting Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol.

Some countries took issue with the White House's calculations.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the tariffs were totally unwarranted, but Australia will not retaliate.

“President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10%,” said Albanese. The U.S. and Australia have a free trade agreement and the U.S. has a $2-to-$1 trade surplus with Australia. “This is not the act of a friend.”

Trump said the United States bought $3 billion of Australian beef last year, but Australia would not accept U.S. beef imports. Albanese said the ban on raw U.S. beef was for biosecurity reasons.

A 29% tariff imposed on the tiny South Pacific outpost of Norfolk Island came as a shock. The Australian territory has a population of around 2,000 people and the economy revolves around tourism.

“To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, told the AP Thursday. “We don’t charge tariffs on anything. I can’t think of any non-tariff barriers that would be in place either, so we’re scratching our heads here.”

“We don’t have a 20% tariff rate,” said New Zealand's Trade Minister Todd McClay. But he said New Zealand did not intend to retaliate. "That would put up prices on New Zealand consumers and it would be inflationary,” he said.

As Trump read the list of countries that would be targeted, he repeatedly said he didn’t blame them for the trade barriers they imposed to protect their own nations’ businesses. “But we’re doing the same thing right now,” he said.

“In the face of unrelenting economic warfare, the United States can no longer continue with a policy of unilateral economic surrender,” Trump said.

Speaking from a business forum in India, Chilean President Gabriel Boric warned that such measures challenge “principles that govern international trade.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has clashed with Trump before, said via X that the tariffs marked a milestone: “Today the neoliberalism that proclaimed free-trade policies all over the world has died.”

Analysts say there’s little to be gained from an all-out trade war, for the United States or other countries.

“If Trump really imposes high tariffs, Europe will have to respond, but the paradox is that the EU would be better off doing nothing,” said Matteo Villa, a senior analyst at Italy’s Institute for International Political Studies.

“On the other hand, Trump seems to understand only the language of force, and this indicates the need for a strong and immediate response,” Villa said. “Probably the hope, in Brussels, is that the response will be strong enough to induce Trump to negotiate and, soon, to backtrack.”

AP journalists around the world contributed to this story.

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President Donald Trump departs after signing an executive order at an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)