FAMAGUSAT GAZETTE – President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday imposing a 10% “minimum baseline tariff” on all imports, with higher rates for certain trading partners. The tariffs will take effect April 5, while “individualized reciprocal higher tariffs” targeting countries with the largest U.S. trade deficits will begin April 9, according to the White House.
Exemptions include steel, aluminum, autos, auto parts, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and lumber. Under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), compliant goods from Canada and Mexico will remain tariff-free, while non-compliant goods face tariffs of 10% to 25%.
Trump presented a chart in the White House Rose Garden detailing tariff rates for various countries, including 34% for China, 20% for the European Union, and 46% for Vietnam. He claimed these measures address “non-monetary barriers” imposed by trading partners, such as currency manipulation.
Economists have criticized the tariffs, warning of higher costs for U.S. consumers and businesses, global trade disruptions, and potential economic recession. Gary Clyde Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute for International Economics called the claimed tariff-equivalent rates “pure invention” and predicted a 1% decline in global growth.
The New York Times described the move as a significant escalation in Trump’s trade policies, likely to provoke retaliation from other nations.