American president Donald tramp said on Wednesday night (April 2nd) CET that it would impose a basic tariff of 10 percent on all imports into SAD and bigger carine for some of that country's biggest trading partners, widening the trade war that began upon his return to the White House.
The sweeping tariffs will raise new barriers in the world's largest economy, reversing decades of trade liberalization that have shaped the global order. Other countries are expected to respond with countermeasures that could lead to dramatically higher prices, RSE reports.
"It's our declaration of independence," Trump said at an event on the White House grounds with the message: "We're finally putting America first."
At the Rose Garden event, Trump displayed a blackboard showing the new tariffs for most countries - from 10 percent to 49 percent.
Among the countries that are on the lists with new customs duties are Serbia with a customs duty of 37 percent, Bosnia and Herzegovina with 35 percent and North Macedonia with 33 percent. Thus, Serbia and the mentioned countries of the region found themselves high on the list of countries with the highest tariffs on imports to the USA.
"National Emergency"
Trump said that trade deficits are no longer just an economic problem, it is, as he called it, a "national emergency."
"In many cases, friend is worse than foe on trade," Trump said.
"We subsidize a lot of countries and keep them going," Trump said of trading partners, particularly Mexico and Canada.
"Why are we doing this? I mean, at what point are we going to say, 'You have to work for yourself?'"
Customs duties from 10 to 49 percent
Trump is introducing tariffs of 20 percent to the European Union, while he set 10 percent for Great Britain and 31 percent for Switzerland.
He predicted tariffs of 34 percent for China, 32 percent for Taiwan, 25 percent for South Korea, and 24 percent for Japan. He introduced the highest tariffs for Cambodia - 49 percent, while he predicted 46 percent for Vietnam.
The Trump administration previously announced an official announcement that a separate set of tariffs on auto imports that Trump announced last week would go into effect on April 3. Trump has already imposed tariffs of 20 percent on all imports from China and 25 percent on steel and aluminum and extended them to nearly $150 billion worth of products.
His advisers say the tariffs will restore strategically vital manufacturing capacity to the US.
Economists warn that the tariffs could slow the global economy, increase the risk of recession and increase the cost of living for the average US family by thousands of dollars.
Concerns about tariffs have already slowed manufacturing activity around the world while boosting sales of cars and other imported goods as consumers rush to buy them before prices rise.
At the same time, instability reigned in the financial markets as investors waited for Trump's announcement. US stocks have lost nearly five trillion dollars in value since February.
Source: H1
