President Donald Trump has announced a series of sweeping tariffs against trade partners, describing April 2 as “Liberation Day” and arguing that the punitive steps would bring industry and jobs back to the United States by fighting against what he claims are unfair duties imposed by others on US goods.
Trump’s latest tariffs, announced on Wednesday, coupled with a series of similar moves since he returned to office on January 20, mark the most dramatic escalation in US tariffs in almost a century.
Several nations have said they would retaliate, raising the risk of a global trade war marked by tit-for-tat tariffs.
Here are the key takeaways from the latest round of US tariff announcements:
Trump’s sweeping new reciprocal tariff regime
Trump has, in effect, blown up the global trading system that has stood for more than 75 years and that was based on the premise that encouraging free trade was ultimately advantageous to all nations.
The Trump administration slapped a new 10 percent baseline tariff on imports from every country, even those that impose lower tariffs on US products. And for the countries the administration accuses of actively blocking US goods, the penalties go even further – with steeper, retaliatory tariffs.
“We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us, so the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal,” Trump said on Wednesday afternoon. “I could have done that, I guess, but it would have been tough for a lot of countries, and we didn’t want to do that.”
Instead of matching the European Union’s 39 percent tariff on US goods, for instance, the US will impose a 20 percent duty, he said. For China, which already faces a 20 percent tariff, there will be an additional 34 percent levy, bringing the total to 54 percent.
The administration has used its own calculations to assert that other countries impose much higher tariffs on the US.
In general, US tariffs are lower than those of many other countries. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the average US tariff, weighted by the goods actually traded, is just 2.2 percent. In comparison, the EU averages 2.7 percent, China 3 percent, and India much higher at 12 percent.
These WTO figures do not account for recent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration or the duties under free trade agreements, such as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2025
10 percent tariff
Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, Trump announced a 10 percent tariff on all countries, scheduled to take effect on Saturday, April 5.
The countries facing only a 10 percent tariff include:
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Singapore
- Brazil
- New Zealand
- Turkiye
- United Arab Emirates
- Saudi Arabia
- Chile
Custom tariffs for ‘worst offenders’
About 60 countries will face individualised tariffs, calculated to be roughly half of the tariffs and other barriers that the Trump administration claims they charge the US.
The key trading partners subject to these customised tariff rates include:
- China: 54 percent
- Cambodia: 49 percent
- Laos: 48 percent
- Vietnam: 46 percent
- Sri Lanka: 44 percent
- Thailand: 36 percent
- Taiwan: 32 percent
- South Africa: 30 percent
- India: 26 percent
- Japan: 24 percent
- European Union: 20 percent
- Philippines: 17 percent
The new tariffs come into effect from 00:01am ET (04:01GMT) on April 9.
The reciprocal tariffs will not apply to specific goods such as copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, gold, energy, and “certain minerals that are not available in the United States”, according to a White House fact sheet.
It would also impose a 25 percent tariff on all foreign-made automobiles. These tariffs are set to take effect at midnight on Thursday, April 3.
Countries and companies promise retaliation
Multiple countries have indicated they would retaliate.
“China firmly opposes this and will take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is also preparing further countermeasures. “We are already finalising the first package of countermeasures in response to tariffs on steel,” she said, referring to Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium that went into effect last month.
Japan said it was leaving all options open to respond to the “extremely regrettable” duties.
Volkswagen announced it would implement an “import fee” on vehicles affected by the 25 percent tariff, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The German automaker has temporarily halted rail shipments of vehicles from Mexico and will hold at port cars arriving by ship from Europe, the report said, citing a memo to retailers.
However, Nick Marro, the principal economist for Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said few Asian countries would be willing to take on Trump and risk further retaliation.
“China is likely going to release some type of retaliation against the US … while Japan has said it will also consider some type of retaliatory duties, we expect US agriculture to be mainly in the crosshairs there,” Marro told Al Jazeera.
“That said, a lot of other Asian markets aren’t really in a position to retaliate,” he said.
“Places like Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, they have been hit with higher tariffs, but the size of their economy, their dependence on external trade, and the importance of the US as a source of final demand will really constrain their ability to adopt a hawkish attitude here.”
US business groups brace for the impact
Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, described Trump’s announcement as “complicated”, and said manufacturers are trying to determine the implications for their operations.
“The stakes for manufacturers could not be higher. Many manufacturers in the United States already operate with thin margins. The high costs of new tariffs threaten investment, jobs, supply chains and, in turn, America’s ability to outcompete other nations and lead as the pre-eminent manufacturing superpower,” Timmons said in a statement.
Michelle Korsmo, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association, said restaurant owners are concerned that tariffs will push up costs and lead to higher prices for customers.
“Restaurant operators know consumers are very sensitive to costs and have kept menu price increases to 30 percent, while their food costs have gone up 40 percent in the last five years,” Korsmo said in a statement.
Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, offered a more positive assessment, saying the tariffs put US manufacturers and workers first.
“These hardworking men and women have seen unfair trade cut the ground from beneath their feet for decades. They deserve a fighting chance,” Paul said in a statement.