In a move that could upend American foreign relations across the globe, President Trump announced Wednesday that he is instituting what he described as “reciprocal tariffs” on dozens of U.S. trading partners.
Beginning April 5, all imports to the U.S. will be subject to a baseline tariff of 10%. Then, starting April 9, about 90 countries that, according to the Trump administration currently impose import taxes on U.S. goods, will also be hit by an additional reciprocal tax.
For example, imports from Egypt, the U.K., Ecuador and the United Arab Emirates will be slapped with a 10% reciprocal tariff, while goods coming in from the European Union will face a 20% reciprocal tariff, Taiwan a 32% tariff, China 34%, and Cambodia with the highest reciprocal tariff of 49%.
I-HWA CHENG/AFP via Getty Images 
The only two trading partners that were completely exempt from Wednesday’s reciprocal tariffs were Mexico and Canada. Both those countries, however, are facing 25% tariffs under separate policies targeting aluminum and steel, which took effect in February, as well as vehicle imports, which are set to go into effect Thursday.
Speaking on Fox News Wednesday evening, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that goods from Mexico and Canada that are currently covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement would remain exempt from reciprocal tariffs for now.
Economists have warned that across-the-board tariffs could cripple lower-income Americans’ finances the most while also helping spur a recession. But in his announcement from the White House’s Rose Garden on what he called “Liberation Day,” Mr. Trump painted a dire picture of a U.S. that has been taken advantage of by even its allies.
“Trade deficits are no longer merely an economic problem. They are a national emergency that threatens our security and our very way of life. It’s a very great threat to our country,” the president said.
The response so far from foreign leaders to Mr. Trump’s announcement has ranged from muted to critical.
China’s commerce ministry in a statement to Agence France-Presse urged the U.S. to “immediately cancel” the tariffs. A White House official told CBS News that the reciprocal tariffs are additive, meaning China’s 34% retaliatory tariffs are in addition to 20% tariffs that were already in place.
“China urges the U.S. to immediately cancel unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with trade partners through equal dialogue,” the ministry said, saying it would “endanger global economic development.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson argued that “free enterprise and competition have laid the foundations of the West’s success…This is why I deeply regret the path the US has embarked upon, seeking to limit trade with higher tariffs.”
He went on, “My hope, and our goal, is that we will be able to contain the new US tariffs.”
Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s right-wing prime minister and a Trump ally who visited him at Mar-a-Lago in January, called the tariffs on the E.U. “wrong” and a move “that does not suit any party.”
“We will do everything we can to work a deal with the United States, aiming to prevent a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global actors,” Meloni said. “In any case, as always, we will act in the interests of Italy and its economy, even by comparing ourselves with other European partners.”
Sok Eysan, spokesman for the Cambodian People’s Party, told the New York Times in a statement: “As a small country, we just want to survive. If he valued human rights and democratic principles, he would never mistreat small countries.”
Irish Prime Minister Minister Micheál Martin said on social media, “The decision by the US tonight to impose 20% tariffs on imports from across the European Union is deeply regrettable. I strongly believe that tariffs benefit no one. My priority, and that of the government, is to protect Irish jobs and the Irish economy.”
Simon Harris, deputy prime minister of Ireland, did not sugarcoat his feelings on what he thought represents a “huge challenge to Irish exporters to the US across all sectors.”
“I must be honest tonight that a 20 per cent blanket tariff on goods from all EU countries could have a significant effect on Irish investment and the wider economy and the impact of what was announced is likely to be felt for some time,” Harris said in a lengthy social media post.
The comments come just weeks after Martin had a tense meeting with Mr. Trump at the White House amid the tariff threat.
“Overall, tariffs are damaging to trade, damaging to businesses, but also damaging to consumers, because they will lead to an increase in prices for consumers,” Martin told CBS News in an interview at the time.
Japanese Trade Minister Yoji Muto told reporters that the 24% tariff on Japanese goods was “extremely regrettable,” according to AFP.
“I have conveyed that the unilateral tariff measures taken by the US are extremely regrettable, and I have again strongly urged (Washington) not to apply them to Japan,” Muto said.
In a very brief statement, Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter only said that Switzerland “will quickly determine the next steps.”
Caitlin Yilek and
contributed to this report.
