President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a range of reciprocal tariffs targeting almost all countries that the United States trades with, taking a sledgehammer to Washington’s longstanding advocacy of free trade and globalisation.Trump’s latest tariffs, which build on a series of similar steps he has taken since returning to office on January 20, are going to hit the countries with which Washington has large trade deficits, or that impose heavy tariffs on US goods. In 2023, the US imports were worth $1.1 trillion more than its exports; no other country has as large a trade deficit as the US.
Trump’s reciprocal tariffs also target countries like Syria, which has faced Israeli attacks since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, and Myanmar, which is reeling from earthquake damage amid a civil war. They also target economies already struggling to balance their books, depending on loans from the International Monetary Fund, such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Here is how each country will specifically be targeted by Trump’s tariffs and the few sectors that are — for now — exempt from the penalties. Advertisement
What did Trump say?
Trump announced the reciprocal tariffs in an executive order alongside an address in the Rose Garden at the White House on Wednesday. Trump had been describing April 2 as “Liberation Day”.
In the executive order, Trump said while the US trading policy has been built on the principle of reciprocity, taxes and barriers on US products by its trading partners had hurt the US.
The tariffs, he said, were a response. These reciprocal tariffs will come into effect on April 9.
During his address, Trump made the argument that the US is charging its trading partners with …
