Trump declares national emergency, imposes tariffs across the board

On April 2, local time, the White House issued a statement saying that US President Trump declared a national emergency on the same day to enhance the competitive advantage of the United States, protect US sovereignty, and strengthen US national and economic security.

The statement said that Trump will impose a 10% “baseline tariff” on all countries, which will take effect at 0:01 a.m. Eastern Time on April 5. In addition, Trump will impose personalized higher “reciprocal tariffs” on countries with the largest US trade deficits, which will take effect at 0:01 a.m. Eastern Time on April 9, and all other countries will continue to abide by the original 10% tariff benchmark. The statement also stated that Trump has “modification authority” to increase or reduce tariffs as appropriate.

The statement stated that some goods will not be subject to “reciprocal tariffs”, including steel and aluminum products, automobiles and auto parts that are already subject to Section 232 tariffs, goods that may be subject to future Section 232 tariffs, and energy and certain other minerals that the United States does not have. In addition, gold bars, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and wood products are also not subject to “reciprocal tariffs”.

The statement also said that for Canada and Mexico, goods that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement will continue to be exempted.

Although Trump claimed that the tariffs would help bring in revenue for the US government and revitalize the US manufacturing industry, economists and business people warned that these tariffs would push up prices, harm the interests of US consumers and US companies, disrupt global trade, and be detrimental to global economic development. Previously, several US trading partners have said they will take countermeasures in response.