Trump Imposes 10% Tariff on Global Imports, Including Morocco

This decision concretizes the president’s expressed intention to react to countries he accuses of treating the United States unfairly on a commercial level. Donald Trump had already threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs. He specified that for certain countries, the United States would apply a rate corresponding to half of what they impose on American products. China (34% on US imports), the European Union (20%), Vietnam (46%), Taiwan (32%) and Japan (24%) are notably affected.

"This is not true reciprocity," said Mr. Trump, adding: "It’s soft reciprocity." He argues that these tariffs will encourage other countries to reduce their own tariffs on American goods and services, which, according to him, will balance trade conditions for American exports. He also believes that this will motivate companies to manufacture more in the United States, particularly automobiles, in order to avoid the tax. However, analysts point out that the cost of these tariffs could be passed on to American consumers.

Even before this announcement, several countries had indicated their intention to retaliate. Canada says it is preparing countermeasures. China, Japan and South Korea were working on a joint response. The European Union has stated that it will "calibrate its response".

The announcement of these across-the-board tariffs came on the same day the U.S. Senate was considering a measure potentially unfavorable to the president’s trade policy. A vote was expected on Wednesday, with the possibility that Republican senators would join Democrats to end the emergency declaration allowing the imposition of tariffs against Canada.