BREAKING!!! The five key takeaways from Donald Trump’s tariff announcement Cameron Henderson,Here are the five key takeaways from the long-awaited announcement:…see more

BREAKING!!! The five key takeaways from Donald Trump’s tariff announcement
Cameron Henderson,Here are the five key takeaways from the long-awaited announcement:…see more

Donald Trump has unveiled plans to impose sweeping trade tariffs between 10-50 per cent on a swathe of countries.

Hailing April 2 as “liberation day”, the US president has for weeks promised to implement a range of fresh tariffs on America’s trading partners, upending the global markets.

Here are the five key takeaways from the long-awaited announcement:

1. UK hit with 10 per cent tariff
Mr Trump has imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all goods imported from the UK to the US.

The US president said that he would impose a reciprocal tariff on all countries, equating to roughly half of the effective tariff rates they slap on US imports.

However, Mr Trump has set a baseline tariff of 10 per cent on foreign imports, meaning British goods will be taxed at 10 per cent — equivalent to the effective tariff rate charged on US imports to the UK.

“United Kingdom, 10 per cent, and we’ll go 10 per cent, so we’ll do the same thing,” Mr Trump said, while holding up a giant chart.

Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, said the US “is our closest ally” and the Government would “remain calm and committed” to doing a deal to mitigate the impact of the tariffs announced by Mr Trump.

2. EU tariffs
The president announced the European Union will be hit with a 20 per cent tariff, describing the bloc as “very tough traders”.

Mr Trump said that the EU charges an effective rate on US imports of 39 per cent, so the US will charge a 20 per cent rate in response.

“You think of [the] European Union [as] very friendly. They rip us off. It’s so pathetic,” he said. “We’re charging them essentially half.”

Explaining his reasons for targeting the EU, Mr Trump highlighted “exorbitant” 20 per cent VAT that “[disadvantages] our products] as a source of tension.

The president also pointed to EU bans on imports of chicken and restrictions on car parts.

“The European Union bans imports of most American poultry,” he said. “They say we want to send you our cars, we want to send you everything, but we’re not going to take anything that you have.”

3. 10 per cent baseline
Mr Trump declared the baseline tariff of 10 per cent would be applied to all countries, with the amount increased for partners who he referred to as bad actors.

“It’s our declaration of independence,” Mr Trump said during his “liberation day” Rose Garden event.

“We will establish a minimum baseline tariff of 10pc.”

Other nations have been worse hit, with Japan at 24pc, South Korea at 25pc and India at 26pc.

The president declared a national economic emergency to launch the tariffs, expected to produce hundreds of billions in annual revenues.

He has promised that factory jobs will return back to the United States as a result of the taxes, but his policies risk a sudden economic slowdown and anger amongst consumers and businesses.

4. Cars and auto parts
Shortly before the Rose Garden event, Mr Trump’s administration confirmed that the president’s 25pc global tariffs on cars will take effect as scheduled just after midnight in Washington.

The levies on cars will come into force at 12.01am ET while duties on automotive parts imports will be launched on May 3, according to the Federal Register.

The White House directed the commerce department to establish a process within 90 days for adding more motoring parts to its list of items facing tariffs. Some were at the request of US manufacturers.

The parts list currently includes dozens of tariff codes including engines, transmissions, powertrains and electrical components, as well as other parts such as brake hoses.

Domestic producers will be able to request additions to the list, the notice said.

5. China, Vietnam and Taiwan
Mr Trump said in retaliation for the 67per cent tax China imposes on US goods, he would respond with a 34 per cent levy.

Mr Trump said the new tariffs on China were implemented in order to combat trade barriers, such as on meat, grain and dairy products, as well as currency manipulation.

During his first term, the president accused Beijing of deliberately devaluing its currency to give it a competitive advantage.

Explaining his decision to charge China half the effective tax it imposes on US imports, Mr Trump said: They charge us, we charge them, we charge them less. So how can anybody be upset?”

The president went on to praise Chinese president Xi Jinping, who he said took advantage of Mr Trump’s predecessors.

“They were taking tremendous advantage of us, and I commend them for that,” he said. “They understand exactly what’s happening, and…most of them are saying it’s about time [the US] did something.”

Vietnam, whose people Mr Trump described as “great negotiators”, was hit with one of the most stringent tariffs at 46 per cent – roughly half of the 96 per cent effective rate it charges on US imports.

The president also announced a 32 per cent tariff on Taiwan – half the rate it charges on the US – highlighting Taipei’s dominance in the microchip industry as a major cause for concern.

“We used to have 100 per cent of the chip market; now it’s all in Taiwan,” he said, adding that his environment secretary was working on a deal for one of the country’s chip makers to build a factory in the US.

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