New round of levies on nearly all trading partners draws criticism and counter moves

Criticism and counter measures followed a new round of tariffs the United States has imposed on nearly all US trading partners which includes a 34 percent extra levy on Chinese products.

US President Donald Trump, speaking from the White House Rose Garden on April 2 afternoon, announced an “economic emergency”, introducing a 10 percent “baseline” tariff on imported goods and additional punitive tariffs that target around 60 countries with what he called “unfair trade practices”.

Trump said the tariff on all countries, except Canada and Mexico, will take effect on April 5.

He also announced that there would be “individualized” tariffs for countries that have the largest trade deficits with the United States, which would go into effect on April 9.

“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said, claiming that the tariffs were designed to boost domestic manufacturing.

He then proposed that the US would apply reciprocal tariffs at half the rate charged by each nation.

On China, “we’re going to be charging a discounted reciprocal tariff of 34 percent”, said Trump. Before the announcement, Trump had already imposed 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods in two separate rounds, one in February and another in March.

Later, White House documents detailed specific rates: China faces a 54 percent total tariff, with a new 34 percent added to the existing 20 percent, as confirmed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Other rates include 20 percent for the EU, Vietnam 49 percent, the Republic of Korea 25 percent, India 26 percent, Japan 24 percent, and Cambodia 49 percent.

US stock markets quickly erased earlier gains following Trump’s remarks. In after-hours trading, S&P 500 futures dropped by 1.5 percent.

Numerous US lawmakers criticized Trump’s tariff hike. Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said that “many of my Republican colleagues in Congress have already expressed concerns about these tariffs”.

Kaine authored a resolution to block Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports, which passed the Senate on April 2.

“His half-baked trade war will only raise prices for consumers,” said Senator Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat.

Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said: “If these tariffs go into effect, it will be so harmful. And as price hikes always do, they will hurt those the most who can afford them the least.”

Speaking shortly after Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president will “fundamentally change the international trading system”.

He also said Canada would fight US tariffs with countermeasures, although his country and Mexico were not on the list of new tariffs. Trump described the exclusion as an effort to stop illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

Hours before Trump’s announcement, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations, told China Daily at a noon briefing on April 2 that the UN has “expressed concern about what we’ve seen”, which is “a rise in economic protectionism” and is concerned “about the impact it could have on the global economy”.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on April 1 that Europe has a plan to retaliate if Trump imposes widespread tariffs.

“Europe did not start this confrontation,” she said to EU lawmakers.

Anthony Moretti, an associate professor in the Communication and Organizational Leadership Department at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania, told China Daily: “A trade war would harm Americans and people from all over the world, and it will damage bilateral relations.”

Trump signed another executive order effective May 2 to remove tariff exemptions for Chinese imports valued at $800 or less and intends to apply the same measure to other countries once the federal government confirms it has the necessary staffing and resources in place.

Moretti said that Trump “slammed” China twice on April 2. “In effect, what the president has decided is that everything entering the US from China must include a tariff.

“And that means higher prices whether the item is inexpensive or costly. Poorer Americans will especially feel the pain of higher prices because they have fewer dollars to spend,” Moretti added.

The region should quickly align itself with the institutions of the rules-based order including the UN, said Daryl Guppy, a former national board member of the Australia China Business Council.

This means working with China to endorse and support these global structures and the idea of multipolarity, he said.

Minlu Zhang in New York and Xin Xin in Sydney contributed to this story.

yifanxu@chinadailyusa.com