US President Donald Trump has announced the introduction of large-scale duties on US imports. The tariffs are expected to affect trade volumes worth trillions of dollars.
Speaking in the Rose Garden near the White House, the US president announced “very, very good news”.
“In a few minutes, I will sign a historic executive order on reciprocal tariffs for countries around the world. Reciprocal. That means what they do to us, we’ll do to them. Very simple. It couldn’t be simpler,” Trump noted.
He criticized Thailand, India, Vietnam and other countries for unfair, in his opinion, tariff policies and tax regimes on American goods. And gave the example that the US charges only 2.4% duty on motorcycles, while India charges 70% and Vietnam 75%.
Also before signing the executive order, he went on to describe at length the “unfair tariffs” that other countries have imposed on U.S. goods. “Sometimes friends are worse than enemies,” Trump said, referring to the high tariffs that certain allied countries like Japan have imposed.
“This is one of the most important days in American history. This is our declaration of economic independence,” the US president emphasized.
“Against countries that treat us badly, we will calculate the sum of their tariffs, non-monetary barriers and other forms of fraud,” he said, explaining exactly how much ‘reciprocal tariffs’ the US will impose.
He also reiterated that the U.S. will impose 25 percent tariffs on all foreign-assembled cars at midnight April 2 to 3. And he also announced a universal or “minimum basic tariff” of 10 percent on imports.
The amount of duties by major U.S. trading partners
According to the executive order, the U.S. imposes additional duties in the amount of:
China – 34%
European Union – 20%
Vietnam – 46%
Taiwan – 32%
Japan – 24%
South Korea – 25%
Thailand – 36%
Switzerland – 31%
Indonesia – 32%
Malaysia – 24%
Cambodia – 49%
Great Britain – 10%
South Africa – 30%
Brazil – 10%
Bangladesh – 34%
Singapore – 10%
Israel – 17%
Philippines – 17%
Chile – 10%
Pakistan – 29%
Sri Lanka – 44%
The reciprocal tariffs will come into effect on April 9, 2025. And all countries will start paying the minimum base tariff on April 5.
And the base tariff of 10% will be added to the tariffs imposed against specific countries. This means, for example, that for Chinese goods the tariff will be 44% (34+10), for goods from the EU – 30% (20+10).
How the new duties were prepared
Previously, Trump and his inner circle named the European Union, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India as likely targets of future duties in an effort to “punish unfair trade practices.”
According to Bloomberg, $33 trillion worth of global trade is in the crosshairs, with countries from Brazil to China facing a 4 to 90 percent drop in exports to the United States. Presumably, average duties could rise by 15%, driving up inflation and increasing the risk of a U.S. recession.
The measures taken today are in addition to steps taken since Trump took office in January. His administration has imposed an additional 20% tax on all imports from China and 25% on many goods from Mexico and Canada. There is also a global 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports. An executive order was also signed imposing 25% duties on imports of automobiles and certain parts (effective April 3).
What the consequences could be
According to Bloomberg, under the maximum approach, average tariff rates in the U.S. would increase to 2%, which would reduce U.S. GDP by 4% and increase prices by nearly 2.5% over two to three years.
The impact on trading partners in any scenario would be severe. China, the EU, and India could top the list of countries that would be affected by the impact on exports to the US, although their economies could endure. Canada and Southeast Asian countries are likely to feel a larger overall impact.
