Washington: Calling it a ‘Liberation Day’ for America, US President Donald Trump announced a baseline rate of 10 per cent on all imports and higher individualised rates for dozens of countries, including 26 per cent for India, 34 per cent for China and 20 per cent for the EU.
The levies are half of what the US deemed the trading partner countries imposed on goods from America, a combined total of tariffs and non-monetary barriers. Trump said the lower rates are because Americans are "kind" people.
Other countries hit with higher rates are the UK, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, the EU, Vietnam, Cambodia, Switzerland, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Many of the targeted countries are treaty allies of the US, but Trump said, friends have been more unfair to the US on matters of trade than foes, reiterating his long-running beef with countries with high trade surpluses with the US or those that he has perceived levy high import duties on American goods.
The Indian levy on imports from the US -- as calculated by the US in this instance follows a formula that includes both monetary and non-monetary levies and barriers. The new American levy on imports from India was put at half, 26 per cent.
He went on to explain why the reciprocal tariffs are not as highly feared. "Because we are being very kind, we're kind people, very kind," Trump said, explaining the new levies. "We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us, so the tariffs will not be reciprocal. I could have done that, I guess, but it would have been tough for a lot of countries who didn't want to do that."
Reading out from the chart, Trump said the Chinese levy on US imports added up to 67 per cent, "so we're going to be charging a discounted reciprocal tariff of 34 per cent, I think; in other words, they charge us, we charge them, we charge them less."
About the EU, a collective of 27 European countries of which 23 are members of the US-led military alliance NATO, he said, "They're very tough, very, very tough traders. You know, you think of the European Union, very friendly. They rip us off. It's so sad to see. It's so pathetic. 39 per cent we're going to charge them. 20 percent, so we're charging them essentially half."
Vietnam, he said, had "great negotiators, great people. They like me. I like them. The problem is they charge us 90 per cent. We're going to charge them a 46 per cent tariff."
Taiwan, which he said, "took all of our computer chips and semiconductors. We used to be the king, right? We were everything. We had all of it. Now we have almost none of it, except the biggest company is coming in. They're going to have, we're going to end up with almost 40 per cent."
Setting up the announcement, Trump said, "April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again. Going to make it wealthy, good and welcome. For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.” As before, he used the phrase Liberation Day to describe the event.
