“100% Tariffs From India, 50% From EU”: What White House Said On Trump’s Liberation Day Plans

Arun Jain,


Washington:

Amid suspense over US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day tariff” plans, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that there won’t be any exemptions on reciprocal tariffs. Listing tariffs imposed on American products by foreign nations, Ms Leavitt said that the “unfair trade practices” need to stop.

This comes as President Trump prepares to announce a round of reciprocal tariffs on April 2, a day he has labeled “Liberation Day” of America.

“The goal of Wednesday is a country-based tariff, but certainly sectoral tariffs. The President has said he’s committed to implementing them, and I would leave it to him when he makes that announcement,” Leavitt said, adding that “It’s time for reciprocity.”

Holding a piece of paper listing massive tariffs from the European Union, India, Japan, and Canada, the White House Press spokesperson said, “If you look at the unfair trade practices that we have– 50 per cent from the European Union on American dairy. You have a 700 per cent tariff from Japan on American rice. You have a 100 per cent tariff from India on American agricultural products. You have nearly a 300 per cent tariff from Canada on American butter and American cheese.”

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“This makes it virtually impossible for American products to be imported into these markets, and it puts a lot of Americans out of business and out of work over the past several decades,” she added.

Countries often heavily tariff foreign imports to protect industries or sectors vital to their own economies. President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs aim to match other countries’ higher tariff rates for specific goods and compensate for non-tariff barriers that put US exports at a disadvantage.

The Trump administration has argued that the tariff discrepancy is unfair for Americans and hurts their homegrown companies and workers. 

Ms Leavitt pledged that Trump’s new tariffs will bring “historic change” to America’s trade relationships, adding, “Unfortunately, these countries have been ripping off our country for far too long…And they’ve made their disdain, I think, for the American worker quite clear.”

Trade Barriers Report 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration on Monday also released an encyclopedic list of foreign countries’ policies and regulations it regards as trade barriers, two days before the proposed hitting global trading partners with reciprocal tariffs.

The Office of the US Trade Representative’s annual National Trade Estimate Report on foreign trade barriers lists average applied tariff rates for trading partner countries and non-tariff barriers ranging from onerous food safety regulations to renewable energy requirements and public procurement rules.

“No American President in modern history has recognized the wide-ranging and harmful foreign trade barriers American exporters face more than President Trump,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

“Under his leadership, this administration is working diligently to address these unfair and non-reciprocal practices, helping restore fairness and put hardworking American businesses and workers first in the global market,” Greer added.

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It is unclear how the 397-page report will impact Trump’s reciprocal tariff plans.

What Did The Report Say?

Many of the listed trade barriers are technical in nature or the result of government regulation that blocks some U.S. exports, such as delays in EU approvals for genetically modified crops or bans on agricultural imports containing residues of certain types of pesticides.

The report flagged a new EU requirement for a minimum amount of post-consumer recycled content in plastic packaging as potentially creating “unjustified barriers to US exports,” saying the U.S. would work with the EU on the rule’s implementation.

The report also highlighted longstanding sources of trade disputes, such as Canada’s “supply management” system for its dairy, poultry and egg industries, which use production limits on import quotas and high tariffs, with out-of-quota tariffs on cheese at 245 per cent and butter at 298 per cent.

It listed VATs and their implementation as burdensome to US imports in some other countries, including Argentina, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. The report said China’s use of VAT rebates to encourage exports of certain products acted as a kind of subsidy.
 


World