On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced a raft of new tariffs against friends and foes alike.
These included a baseline of a 10% levy on almost all imports into the US as well as custom “reciprocal” tariffs on countries that Trump considers to have been pursuing unfair trade policies with the US.
This includes 20% tariffs against the EU and a 34% tariff on Chinese products (on top of a 20% tariff that he previously announced), among others. The highest tariff of 50% was placed on the small southern African country of Lesotho.
On the list of countries , but not Ukraine.
The baseline 10% tariffs came into effect on Saturday (April 5), with the custom tariffs set to start on Wednesday (April 9), leaving little time for affected countries to respond.
The tariffs have already sent stock markets tumbling around the world, with some seeing their worst losses since the global Covid pandemic.
to bring the tariffs down. On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that more than 50 countries had started talks.
However, other countries are retaliating in kind. China, the world’s second-biggest economy, , matching the US’ 34% tariffs.
While the high rates against China have been taking their toll on Chinese markets, Beijing is hoping that the turmoil will ultimately leave it as the more reliable option for investment and trade.
Indeed most economists agree that the tariffs will have a negative impact on the US economy, sending up prices and unemployment and likely triggering a recession.
Nevertheless, Trump has shown that he is willing to accept the damage done, and the , calling the shock measures a necessary “medicine” to fix what he sees as an unfair trade imbalance.
“They are coming to the table. They want to talk but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis,” Trump said on Sunday. Economists have pointed out that this is not how global trade normally functions.
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