President Trump on Wednesday announced a baseline 10 percent tariff on imports from all foreign countries, as well as higher tariff rates for dozens of nations that the White House deemed the “worst offenders” when it came to trade barriers.
The 10 per cent tariff will go into effect on Friday. About 60 countries facing a higher reciprocal tariff will see those rates go into effect on April 9 at 12:01 a.m.
Trump also announced a 25 per cent tariff on all foreign-made automobiles that will take effect at 12:01 a.m. April 3.
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Among the countries being targeted with reciprocal tariffs are China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and the European Union.
Trump said those reciprocal tariffs will be calculated by combining the rate of tariffs and non-monetary barriers like currency manipulation, then divided in half.
“The tariffs will be not a full reciprocal. I could have done that, I guess. But it would have been tough for a lot of countries,” Trump said.
The higher reciprocal tariffs included 35 per cent on China, 20 per cent on the European Union, 46 per cent on Vietnam, 32 per cent on Taiwan, 24 per cent on Japan.
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“This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in America’s history,” Trump said. “It’s our declaration of economic independence.”
Other countries with high tariffs include 26 per cent on India, 21 per cent on Switzerland, 32 per cent on Indonesia, 24 per cent on Malaysia, 49 per cent on Cambodia and 10 per cent on the United Kingdom.
The president predicted that his massive tariffs would receive criticism, but argued that he also heard complaints about his handling of China and the trade agreement he struck with Mexico and Canada in his first term.
“In the coming days, there will be complaints from the globalists, and the outsourcers, special interests, and fake news,” Trump said. “But, never forget that every prediction our opponents made about trade for the last 30 years has been proven totally wrong.”
Trump said the calculation of the new tariffs is based in part on the values of non-tariff barriers imposed on the U.S. by other countries. These include measures like protective technical speculations for exported products and currency adjustments.
Trump’s new calculations update the US Trade Representative’s foreign trade barriers designations, which was made more lenient under the Biden Administration.
Wednesday’s announcement will not apply to Mexico and Canada. Instead, those two nations will continue to face a 25 per cent tariff on imports on the grounds that they have not done enough to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States. Trump previously announced that goods covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) were exempt from those tariffs.
The president made the announcement from the White House Rose Garden, where he was joined by Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump had previewed for weeks that he would announce reciprocal tariffs on April 2, which he and other administration officials billed as “liberation day.”” But Trump, in the days leading up to the announcement, sought to temper expectations by saying he would be more lenient than many were expecting.
The president made the announcement with boards flanking him in the Rose Garden, showing graphics outlining the tariff amount each trade partner puts on the U.S.
He was also joined by workers from the steel industry, truck drivers, and other workers who wanted to show their support of his trade policy.
Officials expect hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue in the next few years and “trillions” over a 10-year period from the reciprocal tariffs, they told reporters.
Trump announced the tariffs under the authority of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, or IEEPA, which grants the president the power to regulate imports.
The White House stressed on Wednesday that the tariffs are not intended as a negotiation tactic. Officials argued that the tariffs were necessary to bolster the U.S. manufacturing and boosting the domestic industrial base.
“We’re very focused on getting this tariff regime in place,” a senior White House official said. “This is not a negotiation. It’s a national emergency.”Experts and even some Republicans, though, have warned that the tariffs will lead to increases in prices for American consumers. Some nations have signaled that they are preparing reciprocal tariffs to respond to Trump’s announcement, potentially setting off a global trade war.
