Cheyenne Suarez

Trump's global tariff takes effect in dramatic US trade shift

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1743832223032trump.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on January 31, 2025. Mandel Ngan, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on January 31, 2025. <em>Mandel Ngan, AFP </em></span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump&#x27;s widest-ranging tariffs to date took effect Saturday, in a move which could trigger retaliation and escalating trade tensions that could upset the global economy.</p><p>A 10 percent &quot;baseline&quot; tariff came into place past midnight, hitting most US imports except goods from Mexico and Canada as Trump invoked emergency economic powers to address perceived problems with the country&#x27;s trade deficits.</p><p>The trade gaps, said the White House, were driven by an &quot;absence of reciprocity&quot; in relationships and other policies like &quot;exorbitant value-added taxes.&quot;</p><p>Come April 9, around 60 trading partners — including the European Union, Japan and China — are set to face even higher rates tailored to each economy.</p><p>Already, Trump&#x27;s sharp 34-percent tariff on Chinese goods, set to kick in next week, triggered Beijing&#x27;s announcement of its own 34-percent tariff on US products from April 10.</p><p>Beijing also said it would sue the United States at the World Trade Organization and restrict export of rare earth elements used in high-end medical and electronics technology.</p><p>But other major trading partners held back as they digested the unfolding international standoff and fears of a recession.</p><p>Trump warned Friday on social media that &quot;China played it wrong,&quot; saying this was something &quot;they cannot afford to do.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/4/3/agri-chief-says-trump-s-tariffs-may-work-favorably-for-philippines-1657">Agri chief says Trump&#x27;s tariffs may work favorably for Philippines</a></div><div><strong>Markets collapse<br/></strong></div><p>Wall Street went into freefall Friday, following similar collapses in Asia and Europe.</p><p>Economists have also warned that the tariffs could dampen growth and fuel inflation.</p><p>But Trump said on his Truth Social platform that his &quot;policies will never change.&quot;</p><p>Trump&#x27;s latest tariffs have notable exclusions, however.</p><p>They do not stack on recently-imposed 25-percent tariffs hitting imports of steel, aluminum and automobiles.</p><p>Also temporarily spared are copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, alongside &quot;certain critical minerals&quot; and energy products, the White House said.</p><p>But Trump has ordered investigations into copper and lumber, which could lead to further duties soon.</p><p>He has threatened to hit other industries like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as well, meaning any reprieve might be limited.</p><p>Canada and Mexico are unaffected as they face separate duties of up to 25 percent on goods entering the United States outside a North America trade agreement.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/4/4/trump-defiant-as-tariffs-send-world-markets-into-panic-1420">Trump defiant as tariffs send world markets into panic</a></div><div><strong>Retaliation risk</strong></div><p>While Trump&#x27;s staggered deadlines allow space for countries to negotiate, &quot;if they can&#x27;t get a reprieve, they are likely to retaliate, as China already has,&quot; Oxford Economics warned this week.</p><p>EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the bloc, which faces a 20-percent tariff, will act in &quot;a calm, carefully phased, unified way&quot; and allow time for talks.</p><p>But he said it &quot;won&#x27;t stand idly by.&quot;</p><p>France and Germany have said the EU could respond by imposing a tax on US tech companies.</p><p>Japan&#x27;s prime minister called for a &quot;calm-headed&quot; approach after Trump unveiled 24-percent tariffs on Japanese-made goods.</p><p>Meanwhile, Trump said he held a &quot;very productive&quot; call with Vietnam&#x27;s top leader, with imports from the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub facing extraordinary 46-percent US duties.</p><p>Since returning to the presidency, Trump has hit Canada and Mexico imports with tariffs over illegal immigration and fentanyl, and imposed an additional 20-percent rate on goods from China. Come April 9, the added levy on Chinese products this year reaches 54 percent.</p><p>Trump&#x27;s 25-percent auto tariffs also took effect this week, and Jeep-owner Stellantis paused production at some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants.</p><p>Trump&#x27;s new global levies mark &quot;the most sweeping tariff hike since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the 1930 law best remembered for triggering a global trade war and deepening the Great Depression,&quot; said the Center for Strategic and International Studies.</p><p>Oxford Economics estimates the action will push the average effective US tariff rate to 24 percent, &quot;higher even than those seen in the 1930s.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/4/3/recession-likely-for-many-countries-after-trump-s-liberation-day-tariffs-1146">Recession likely for many countries after Trump&#x27;s &#x27;Liberation Day&#x27; tariffs: Fitch official</a><br/><strong></strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y-9yhTZntXQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Come April 9, around 60 trading partners — including the European Union, Japan and China — are set to face even higher rates tailored to each economy.</p>

Come April 9, around 60 trading partners — including the European Union, Japan and China — are set to face even higher rates tailored to each economy.