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WITH SWEEPING TARIFFS on friend and foe, US President Donald Trump has roiled financial markets and sparked a surge in economic uncertainty – and tensions are mounting days before a fresh volley of higher duties are due to kick in.
Here is a rundown of what Trump has implemented in his second presidency, with levies on dozens of economies set to bounce from 10% to a range between 11% and 50% on Wednesday.
While Trump imposed a 10% tariff on most US trading partners in April, the rate is set to rise for dozens of economies including the European Union and Japan come Wednesday.
To avoid higher levies, countries have been rushing to strike deals with Washington.
So far, the UK and Vietnam have struck pacts with the United States, while China has managed to temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties.
There are notable exceptions to the duty.
Immediate US neighbours Canada and Mexico, which were separately targeted over illegal immigration and fentanyl, are not affected by the 10% global tariff.
Also off the hook are copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber – although these are sectors that Trump is mulling levies on. Gold and silver, as well as energy commodities, are excluded too.
China has borne the brunt of Trump’s levies. The world’s two biggest economies engaged in an escalating tariffs war this year before a temporary pullback.
Both sides imposed triple-digit tariffs on each other’s goods at one point, a level effectively described as a trade embargo.
After high level talks, Washington agreed to lower its levies on Chinese goods to 30% and Beijing slashed its own to 10%.
The US level is higher as it includes a 20% tariff imposed over China’s alleged role in the global fentanyl trade.
Trump has also targeted individual business sectors in his second term.
In March, he imposed a 25% levy on steel and aluminium imports and last month doubled them to 50%.
He has also rolled out a 25% tariff on imported autos, although those imported under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) can qualify for a lower levy.
Trump’s auto tariffs impact vehicle parts too, while the president has issued rules to ensure automakers paying vehicle tariffs will not also be charged for certain other duties.
Canadian and Mexican products were initially hard hit by 25% US tariffs, with a lower rate for Canadian energy.
Trump targeted both neighbours saying they did not do enough on illegal immigration and the flow of illicit drugs across borders.
But he eventually announced exemptions for goods entering his country under the USMCA, covering large swaths of products. Potash, used as fertilizer, got a lower rate as well.
Beyond expansive tariffs on Chinese products, Trump ordered the closure of a duty-free exemption for low-value parcels from the country. This adds to the cost of importing items like clothing and small electronics.
Trump has also opened the door for 25% tariffs on goods from countries importing Venezuelan oil. He has threatened similar “secondary tariffs” involving Russian oil.
And he has ordered investigations into imports of copper, lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals that could eventually bring new duties.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs on countries have faced legal challenges. The US Court of International Trade ruled in May that Trump had overstepped his authority with across-the-board global levies.
It blocked many of the duties from going into effect, prompting the Trump administration’s challenge, and a US federal appeals court has since allowed the duties to remain while it considers the case.
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Oh no! It looks like Vladimir has no intention of stoping the war that trump was going to sort out in a day.
Who could possibly have foreseen that happening…
@Stanley Marsh: Hamburger head couldn’t care less. He’s enshrined obscene tax breaks for the rich into law now and of he can crash the economy; all the better. He and his buddies will be able to buy up even more assets. All he has to do now is keep changing his nappy and play golf.
@Stanley Marsh: wait the sanctions didn’t work?
@Louis Jacob: I don’t quite understand because that would lead to a kind of global feudalism. Oligarches v Oligarches.
The nation state is a relatively recent thing and well anything can happen.
@Stanley Marsh: And now Trump has obeyed his master’s orders and cancelled some vital arms shipments to Ukraine…first time a US president has taken orders from the Russians
I swear if the EU rolls over for him as easily as they did for the Zionists I’ll lose all faith in the EU.
@FoxyBoiiYT: how will the EU survive if you lose faith?
@Handsome Pete: Yes I’ve zero love for the Zionists. But at least our government and Spain are standing up
@Handsome Pete: EU is absolutely not siding with Hamas terrorists
Bread and bog rolls will be next.
Buy Irish, or at least European if you have to. Avoid anything imported from America.
@Tony Murphy: I’m trying to think of an Irish made product that I can’t get the same or better in France apart from the real ingredients for a proper breakfast. We have a huge output in the dairy industry. But I’ve never seen kerrygold (labelled as such). If you read the label it will say ‘EU milk’. My favourite butter Is ‘Grande Fermage’ with salt crystals. Kerrygold is so bland compared to that !
5,50€/500g if anyone cares …
@Tony Murphy: I tried that the other day. Bought something worth 20 euro from Germany. They cancelled the transaction stating that posting to Ireland would cost 30 euro!. Bough in the UK instead cost 10 euro postage including vat. The EU is gone.
@offside again: Kerrygold is made with Irish milk.
@Sun Rise: duh … you’re not serious ?
@did you every wonder: The EU isn’t gone he says bahahahahaha
@offside again: Kerrygold is made with Irish milk.
@Mary: Irish milk so what. It’s bland.
It would be labelled ‘origine EU’ unless it was marketed as Irish specifically and Kerrygold wouldn’t be good enough to persuade customers away from French butter, even if it might be a bit better than some.
I bet it does get sold here but let’s not go there …
No state or play they are in cookoo land
Time to stock up and beat the increases! Be prepared all!
@Lance Taylor: Trump’s tariffs apply to goods sold in the US and therefore will be paid by American consumers, not you or me.
@Kevin Collins: I don’t you understand. All price rises will be passed on to the end consumer, which is you And I. Suggest you stock up immediately.
@Lance Taylor: You and I are not the end consumer as we do not live in the US, which is where the tariffs are charged.
Unless the EU responds with reciprocal tariffs, the main way we could be affected is if we are buying US exports that have raw materials which are subject to the tariffs.
In any case, all this tariff malarkey has caused the USD to slide about 15% against the Euro this year so this has actually made it cheaper for us to buy from the US in recent months.
@Kevin Collins: ok Kevin then let us stock up in US goods with the 15 percent price differential. If we are prudent now this will pay dividends in future months to come.
Watch the EU climb down and take whatever crumbs President Trump gives them. They are absolutely powerless compared to President Trump the leader of the free world.
BOYCOTT the USA wherever possible.
So an ex Ukrainian military man scales the U.S. residential ambassadors home in phoenix park fails to turn up in court and is told to donate funds to charity and fined €200 in abstentia.
What a joke the criminal justice system is in Ireland. Hand him over to the Americans and see what real justice is. The judge believes his story that he was a lost tourist ? Tell the judge I have a bridge for sale.
have your say