Trump Tariffs, Postponements, And China Tit-For-Tats
US duty tariffs have become increasingly unpredictable, as the latest round of exchanges have ended up with an astonishing 125% duty rate being placed on China.
Despite already targeting Canada, Mexico, China, global steel and aluminium imports, and the global automobile industry, President Trump announced sweeping global tariffs last week, effective from April 5th to April 9th.
The new tariffs added a 10% duty hike to US imports from around the globe, and also specifically targeted 60 countries with higher rates. The headlines included a 54% rate for China, 20% for the EU, and the UK receiving the baseline 10%.
Other rates of note included: Cambodia 49%, Vietnam 46%, Thailand 37%, Taiwan 32%, India 27%, South Korea 26% and Japan 24%. Mexico and Canada are exempt from these increases after being specifically targeted previously.
However, since last week’s announcement, the US have been embroiled in a trade battle with China that has seen tit-for-tat increases from both parties, leaving Chinese products currently receiving an incredible 125% tariff in the US and China applying an 84% rate to American products.
The 10% baseline tariff went live from April 5th and the additional specific country tariffs were set to take effect yesterday. However, at the eleventh hour, Trump backtracked yesterday and postponed the additional rates for 90 days for all countries except China.
This means that for the next 90 days, at least, the 10% hike applies to almost everybody except China.
Confused? You’re not alone. The good news is that while global stock markets tumbled after last week’s announcement, they have rallied since Trump’s postponement.
We suspect the story is set to continue for some time, and will be monitoring developments over the coming days and weeks.
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