Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has stated that “all countries” will be affected by his soon-to-be-announced reciprocal tariffs, stifling hopes that only those nations will be targeted by those with the biggest trade imbalances with the US.
Trump stated to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that his long-awaited tariff announcement would “beginning” with all nations.
Trump told reporters, “You’d start with all nations.” Essentially, all of the nations discussed here.
Trump’s comments come after the US president’s administration “liberation day” by downplaying the scope of the tariffs scheduled to be unveiled on April 2.
The measures would be primarily focused on 10 to 15 nations, which account for the majority of the US trade deficit, as Kevin Hassett, a White House economics adviser, suggested earlier this month.
In an interview with Fox Business, Hassett stated, “There are more than 100 countries that don’t really have any tariffs on us and don’t have any non-tariff barriers.”
Trump himself made an appearance last week to underplay the impact of the upcoming tariffs, saying that people would be surprised and that the reciprocal measures would be “very lenient.”
Although the precise details of Trump’s plans are still undetermined, his administration has pledged to impose duties on nations that are comparable to those imposed on US exports as well as non-tariff trade barriers, such as subsidies.
Trump has long accused other nations of stifling US trade, blaming his protectionist economic agenda as necessary to revive domestic manufacturing and create jobs. He last week imposed a 25% tariff on all auto imports.
Washington’s relations with some of its closest allies and closest partners, including Canada, the European Union, and Japan, all of whom have large automotive industries, have been strainened by Trump’s most recent tariffs on cars and other vehicles.
Investors are unsure whether Trump’s repeated tariff announcements will make his tariffs permanent or whether he views them as primarily a bargaining tool.
Trump stated last week that he was “certainly open” to striking deals with nations to avoid the tariffs after the April 2 announcement.
In light of further turbulence in global trade, Asian stock markets sharply decreased on Monday.
As of 03:00 GMT, the benchmarks for South Korea’s KOSPI and Japan’s Nikkei 225 both fell 3.85 percent and 2.55 percent, respectively.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Australia’s ASX 200 both experienced declines of 1.56 percent and 1.20 percent, respectively.
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