US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of duties on goods from around the world that will be imported into the United States. He announced this while speaking on 2 April in a clearing in front of the White House, where several dozen supporters of the head of state gathered.
At the beginning of his speech, Trump promised to make the US “rich again”.
“They (countries with which the US has a trade deficit – ed.) have taken so much of our wealth from us. We will not let that happen,” the United States leader said.
Trump noted that the US can no longer afford to run trade deficits with other countries, suggesting that the US has subsidised them for too long.
“We take care of countries around the world,” he said, adding that it was time for the USA to take care of its people.
The basic customs rate on imports of all foreign goods into the US will be 10 per cent. It will be the same for the UK, Brazil, Australia, Turkey, Ukraine and many other countries. For EU countries it will be 20%, for China – 34%, for South Korea – 25%, for Japan – 24%, for India – 26%.
The rates for Cambodia (49%), Vietnam (46%) and Sri Lanka (44%) are record highs.
The table that Trump showed indicates that duties on US goods in Cambodia are 97 per cent, the highest rate on the list of US trading partners. In the EU, the rate reaches, according to US data, 39 per cent, In China 67 per cent and in Japan 46 per cent.
US President Donald Trump’s push for sweeping tariffs creates more uncertainty and undermines confidence but is unlikely to trigger a recession in the near term, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.
The IMF is likely to cut its economic forecast slightly in its next updated global economic outlook in about three weeks, but “we don’t see a recession on the horizon,” Georgieva told Reuters.
On his return to the White House in January, Trump imposed 20% duties on all goods from China; threatened and then delayed 25% duties on most goods from Canada and Mexico; imposed high duties on steel and aluminium imports; announced 25% duties on imported cars; and announced that April 2 would be “Liberation Day” when he would unveil global reciprocal tariffs.