Key points
- Countries like Australia and Britain face immediate 10pc tariff
- Beijing says “market has spoken” on Trump tariffs
- Over 50 countries seek trade talks with US
WASHINGTON: US customs agents started collecting President Donald Trump’s unilateral 10 per cent tariff on all imports from many nations on Saturday, with higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners due to start next week, Western media reported.
According to Reuters, the initial 10pc “baseline” tariff to be paid by US importers took effect at US airports, seaports, and customs warehouses at 0401 GMT, ushering in Trump’s full rejection of the post-World War Two system of mutually agreed tariff rates.
Trump’s Wednesday tariff announcement shook international stock markets, wiping out $5 trillion in stock market value for S&P 500 firms by Friday’’ close, a record two-day decline, media reports suggest.
Prices for oil and commodities plunged, while investors fled to the safety of government bonds, Reuters reported. Among the nations first hit with the 10pc tariff are Australia, Britain, Colombia, Argentina, and Egypt. A US Customs and Border Protection bulletin to shippers indicates no grace period for cargoes on the water at midnight on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Grace period
But a US Customs and Border Protection bulletin did provide a 51-day grace period for cargoes loaded onto vessels or planes and in transit to the US before 12:01am ET on Saturday. These cargoes need arrive by 12:01am ET on May 27 to avoid the 10pc duty.
At the same hour on Wednesday, Trump’s higher “reciprocal” tariff rates of 11pc to 50pc are due to take effect. According to Reuters, European Union imports will be hit with a 20pc tariff, while Chinese goods will be hit with a 34pc tariff, bringing Trump’s total new levies on China to 54pc.
China on Saturday said “the market has spoken” in rejecting Trump’s tariffs after it hit the US with a slew of countermeasures, including extra levies of 34pc on all US goods and export curbs on some rare earth minerals.
“China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close,” Trump said on Saturday on social media. “THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
Trade Talks with US
Some world leaders moved quickly to strike a deal with Trump to avert economic disruption, while others weighed countermeasures.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was reportedly seeking a telephone conversation with Trump. Tokyo faces a 24pc levy.
Vietnam will be hit with a 46pc tariff and agreed on Friday to discuss a deal with Trump, according to media reports.
Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti warned on Saturday against the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on the United States, saying at a business forum near Milan that doing so could cause damage, Reuters reported.
Latest duties
Canada and Mexico were exempt from both Trump’s latest duties because they are still subject to a 25pc tariff related to the US fentanyl crisis for goods that do not comply with the US-Mexico-Canada rules of origin, according to Reuters.
More than 50 countries have reached out to the United States to start trade talks after the announcement of sweeping new tariffs by President Donald Trump, senior White House officials said on Sunday.
Kevin Hassett, Director of the US National Economic Council, told ABC News that dozens of countries had approached the White House in hopes of negotiating relief from the tariffs, which were announced last Wednesday.
“More than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation,” Hassett said, citing information from the US Trade Representative. “They understand that they bear a lot of the tariffs.”
