WASHINGTON – UN President Donald Trump has imposed reciprocal tariffs on over 180 countries and territories including Pakistan, escalating a trade war that would hurt the struggling world economies.
He unveiled the tariffs at an event at the White House where he remarked, “In many cases, the friend is worse than the foe in terms of trade”.
“We subsidize a lot of countries and keep them going and keep them in business,” the president said while apparently targeting Mexico and Canada.
“Why are we doing this? I mean, at what point do we say you got to work for yourselves,” he said, adding that now he is finally putting American first.
Trade deficits are no longer merely an economic problem. They are a national emergency,” Trump said.
During the event, the US President displayed a board showing the new rates to be charged on most countries. The boards showed that the rates have been increased by up to 50 percent.
Trump has imposed 29 percent reciprocal tariff on Pakistan, saying the South Asian country charged 58% on goods imported from the US.
Under the new US trade policy, the US will impose 26% reciprocal tariff on India, 34% on China, 20% on European Union, 10% on Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Afghanistan.
The US is also going to impose 37% tariff on Bangladesh, 24% on Japan, 17% on Israel and 10% on the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, several governments around the world have promised to unveil counter measures on the US after Trump imposed a new baseline 10% tariff on goods from all countries plus reciprocal tariffs.
