Sweeping new tariffs on goods imported by the United States are took effect on April 9 under US President Donald Trump new trade policy, which he said is aimed at revitalizing American manufacturing.
The higher import tax rates on dozens of countries and territories include a massive 104 percent duty on Chinese goods and 20 percent on products from the European Union. The new tariffs come after 10 percent baseline tariff that went into effect on April 5.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that Trump had not considered an extension or delay for the increases.
“He expects that these tariffs are going to go into effect,” she said on April 8 hours before their midnight implementation.
Trump himself offered mixed signals about whether the tariffs will remain. While describing them as "permanent," he said representatives of the countries targeted were on their way to Washington to negotiate bilateral trade agreements.
"We have a lot of countries coming in that want to make deals," he said at a White House event on April 8. He said later that he expected China to pursue an agreement as well.
Trump's administration has scheduled talks with representatives of South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.
EU Executive Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is among those offering a mutual reduction of tariffs but also warned that countermeasures are still an option.
Trump announced the tariffs on April 2, calling it America's "liberation day" and saying it will be remembered “as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again."
The president complained bitterly in announcing the tariffs that the United States for decades had been mistreated by "friend and foe alike” on trade, creating a massive trade imbalance.
Stock markets around the world have sunk amid the rollout of the tariffs, which economists warn will raise prices for goods that US consumers buy each day -- particularly as the new tariffs build on some previous trade measures. The countries targeted also are likely to retaliate.
China already has, announcing a 34 percent tariff on all US goods. That matched the rate before Trump announced that the United States would impose a 104 percent of China starting on April 10.
China's Commerce Ministry called Trump's threat to escalate tariffs “a mistake on top of a mistake” that “once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US.”
Beyond levies on China, Trump imposed a steep 25 percent tariff on auto imports beginning on April 3 that was largely aimed autos made in Mexico and Canada to pressure them to take steps to control immigration and drug trafficking. These tariffs are on fully imported cars but are set to expand to applicable auto parts in the following weeks.
Canada responded with a 25 percent levy on auto imports from the United States that do not comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Those tariffs also are slated to go into effect on April 9.
Steel and aluminum have also been targeted. Both metals are now taxed at 25 percent across the board under expanded tariffs that went into effect last month.
