Trump to charge high tariffs on ‘worst offenders’ globally

President Donald Trump has announced new import taxes on all goods entering the U.S., in the biggest upheaval of the international trade order since the aftermath of World War II.

His plan sets a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports, consistent with his proposal during last year’s White House campaign.

Items from about 60 trade partners that the White House described as the “worst offenders,” including the European Union and China, face higher rates—payback for unfair trade policies, Trump said.

Analysts said the trade war escalation was likely to lead to higher prices for Americans and slower growth in the U.S., while some countries around the world could be plunged into recession.

But in Wednesday’s announcement at the White House, Trump said the measures were necessary because countries were taking advantage of the U.S. by imposing high tariffs and other trade barriers.

Declaring a national emergency, the Republican president said the U.S. had for more than five decades been “looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.”

“It’s our declaration of economic independence,” Trump said in the Rose Garden against a backdrop of U.S. flags.

The White House said the U.S. would start charging the 10% tariffs on April 5, with the higher duties for certain nations starting on April 9.

Canada and Mexico Not Affected

Tariffs are taxes on imports. On the campaign trail last year, Trump said he would use them to boost manufacturing, promising a new age of U.S. prosperity.

The import taxes could raise $2.2 trillion (£1.7tn) of revenue by 2034, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

He spent weeks previewing Wednesday’s announcement, which followed other orders raising tariffs on imports from China, foreign cars, steel and aluminum, and 25% on some goods from Mexico and Canada.

For now, the White House said the latest changes would not affect Mexico and Canada, two of America’s closest trading partners.

But other allies will face new tariffs, including 10% for the UK and 20% for the European Union, said Trump.

The measure introduces a new 34% tariff on goods from China, on top of an existing 20% levy, bringing total duties to at least 54%.

The tariff rate will be 24% on goods from Japan and 26% from India.

Some of the highest duties will hit exports from countries that have seen a rush of investment in recent years, as firms shifted supply chains away from China following tariffs in Trump’s first term.

Goods from Vietnam and Cambodia will be hit with 46% and 49%, respectively.

Higher levies will also fall on much smaller nations, with products from the southern African country of Lesotho facing 50%.

Global Reactions and Market Impact

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned other countries not to hit back.

“My advice to every country right now is, do not retaliate,” Bessent told Fox News.

“Sit back, take it in, let’s see how it goes. Because if you retaliate, there will be escalation,” he said. “If you don’t retaliate, this is the high watermark.”

Later, however, China’s commerce ministry said it “firmly” opposed the U.S.’s new tariffs and would take “resolute countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests.”

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen also said she was preparing to take further steps against the U.S. if negotiations failed.

The new duties will affect trillions of dollars in trade, likely setting the stage for higher prices in the U.S. on clothing, European wine, bicycles, toys, and thousands of other items.

Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economic research at the Fitch Ratings agency, said the measures would bring the U.S. tariff rate back to levels seen in 1910.

“Many countries will likely end up in a recession,” he said.

The U.S. stock market was closed for trading by the time Trump made his announcement, which he billed as “Liberation Day.”

But shares in the Asia-Pacific region opened lower on Thursday morning.

Japan’s benchmark stock index, the Nikkei 225, was down by 4% in early trading. Australia’s ASX 200 was around 2% lower.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives described the tariffs as “worse than the worst case” that investors had anticipated.

But he said he believed there would be negotiations and exemptions.

Trump has described his measures as “reciprocal”— intending them as retaliation for other countries’ policies that he says fuel high trade imbalances.

These include high tariffs, as well as Value Added Tax (VAT) or regulations that bar foods with traces of certain chemicals.

Trump also reinstated plans to end tax-free treatment for small packages from China as of May, a move that would hurt Amazon rivals such as Shein and Temu.

He confirmed that a 25% tax on imports of all foreign-made cars, which he announced last week, would begin from midnight.

And he repeated his intention to hit specific items that were exempt from Wednesday’s action, such as copper and pharmaceuticals, with separate tariffs.

Credit: BBC