Trump disclosed the historic tariffs in a ceremony at the White House’s Rose Garden for a “Make America Wealthy Again” event.
President Donald Trump marked the week by unveiling an unprecedented wave of tariffs on imports to the U.S., aligning with his long-held position that other countries have taken advantage of the U.S. in trade.
Trump disclosed the historic tariffs in a ceremony at the White House’s Rose Garden for a “Make America Wealthy Again” event, asserting these new duties would generate new jobs for U.S. workers.
“For nations that treat us badly, we will calculate the combined rate of all their tariffs, nonmonetary barriers and other forms of cheating”, Trump said Wednesday.
“And because we are being very kind, we will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us”, he said. “So, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal. I could have done that. Yes. But it would have been tough for a lot of countries.”
The tariff plan establishes a baseline tax of 10% on all imports to the U.S., along with customized tariffs for countries that place higher tariffs on American goods. The baseline tariffs of 10% will take effect Saturday, while the others will take effect Wednesday.
The Trump administration previously imposed a 25% tariff on imported vehicles, up to 25% tariffs on certain goods from Mexico and Canada and a 20% tariff on shipments from China. The tariffs already imposed on Canada and Mexico remain unaffected, but the new tariffs on China will be added on top of the previous duties on Beijing, according to the White House.
The tariffs have faced backlash from both parties in Congress, and allies, including Canada and Australia.
