The President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed a decree on Thursday imposing “reciprocal” tariffs of between 10% and 41% on dozens of countries. They will come into effect within a week.
Among the notable decisions, the Republican established that products entering the United States from Canada will pay a tariff of 35%, 10 percentage points more than previously announced.
The White House announced that the “universal” tariff for goods entering the United States will remain at 10%, the same level that was implemented on April 2.
But that 10% will only apply to countries with a trade surplus, that is, those to which the United States exports more than it imports. This applies to the majority of countries.
A 15% will serve as the new minimum tariff limit for countries with which the United States has a trade deficit. About 40 countries will pay that new 15% tariff. This tariff will be lower for many of them than the “reciprocal” tariffs of April 2, but it will be higher for a few.
And more than a dozen countries have tariffs above 15%, either because they agreed to a trade framework with the United States or because Trump sent their leaders a letter dictating a higher tariff. The senior administration official stated that those countries have some of the largest trade deficits with the United States.
When Trump held his “Liberation Day” event on April 2 and imposed tariffs, there were two types: a global limit of 10% and “reciprocal” tariffs higher against dozens of countries.
The limit tariffs entered into force and remained in effect, but the reciprocal tariffs were suspended. These will primarily resume on Friday.
