Trump Imposes Sweeping Tariffs

President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs against a wide range of foreign countries Wednesday, in a move that could have widespread effects on the economy. 

Trump said each country’s imports will be taxed at rates based on “tariffs, non-monetary barriers and other forms of cheating” that are levied against American goods. The tariffs range from 10% on Great Britain’s goods to as high as 49% on items from Cambodia, according to a chart Trump held up at a press conference at the White House Rose Garden Wednesday. Chinese products would be hit with a 34% tariff, and the European Union will be tariffed at 20%, and goods from Japan at 24%.

“That means they do it to us, and we do it to them. Very simple,” Trump said.

A minimum 10% tariff would apply to all countries, Trump said, adding that the tariffs would kick in at midnight.

Wednesday’s tariffs were another escalation in Trump’s widening trade policies, which are intended to protect American industry by putting up barriers to competition from foreign companies. The announcement, dubbed “Liberation Day” by Trump, comes on the heels of other major tariffs announced over the past few months, including a 25% tariff on imported cars, 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico, and an additional 20% tariff on China.

The imposition of tariffs could have immediate and longer-term consequences.

Household budgets could take a big hit from paying the import taxes, which economists generally assume are mostly passed on to consumers. A typical household would pay $3,400 to $4,200 more per year under 20% universal tariffs, the Yale Budget Lab estimated this week in advance of the announcement.

Tariffs at that level would also drag on the job market, especially if foreign countries retaliated with tariffs of their own, economists at Moody’s Analytics found in an analysis ahead of the announcement. A 20% tariff matched with tit-for-tat retaliation by other countries would push the country into a recession and cost as many as 4 million jobs, Brendan LaCerda, an economist at Moody’s, wrote in a commentary.

In addition to the direct costs of the tariffs, the uncertainty surrounding them has also dragged on the economy. Previous rounds of tariffs have come with last-minute changes and delays, making consumers and business leaders unsure of what policies will be months or years from now, which discourages major purchases and investments.

Trump dismissed the concerns of economists and business leaders, saying predictions of economic damage from tariffs he imposed in 2018 proved incorrect.

“This will be an entirely different country in a short period of time,” he said. “It will be something the whole world will be talking about.”