President Donald Trump has let rip his ‘war with the world’ as his global tariffs have gone into effect.
‘They ripped us off left and right. But now it’s our turn to do the ripping,’ Trump said Tuesday night.
In the hours leading up to the massive financial shock, Trump showed no willingness to back down, and was instead gloating about how other countries were coming to the U.S.
‘And I do think that the war with the world, which is not a war at all, because they’re all coming here,’ he told Republican lawmakers at the National Republican Congressional Campaign President’s Dinner.
‘Japan is coming here as we speak. They’re in a plane, flying lots of them, all tough negotiators, but things that people wouldn’t have given us two years ago … three years ago, five years ago, seven – they’re giving us everything.
‘They don’t want tariffs on themselves.’
Last Wednesday Trump announced that every country – even uninhabited islands – would be hit with a 10 percent tariff on imports, with ‘reciprocal’ tariffs doled out to countries the White House considered to be the worst offenders.
Since then markets have cratered.
President Donald Trump has let rip his ‘war with the world’ as his global tariffs have gone into effect
In the hours leading up to the massive financial shock, Trump showed no willingness to back down, and was instead gloating about how other countries were coming to the U.S. to beg
On Tuesday, after a brief rally attributed to a tariff pause possibly being on the table, the Dow ended more than 300 points down. Overall the tariff-related market drop amounted to more than 4,500 points. As 12:01 a.m. Wednesday approached – when the tariffs would kick in – U.S. stock futures and Asian equity markets dropped.
Trump escalated his trade war Tuesday – by announcing a 104 percent tariff on China would go into effect, after China refused to lift its retaliatory tariffs by Trump’s deadline of noon on Tuesday.
‘Until they make a deal with us, that’s what it’s going to be,’ Trump said at Tuesday night’s NRCC President’s Dinner.
At the same dinner, Trump also teased more tariffs were coming.
‘We’re going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals,’ he said.
Trump had initially pitched a 34 percent increase on China when he announced the new tariffs during last Wednesday’s Rose Garden ‘Liberation Day’ event, on top of the 20 percent tariffs on China he had rolled out earlier this year. He then stuck Beijing with another 50 percent increase.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that ‘it was a mistake for China to retaliate.’
‘The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder,’ she said, but added that ‘if China reaches out to make a deal, he’ll be incredibly gracious, but he’s going to do what’s best for the American people.’
The S&P 500 neared a ‘bear market’ after a 12 percent four-day drop
The full extent of the tariffs that will be levied at nations across the globe starting at midnight, though Trump announced the ones on China were increased Tuesday
She answered that it would be ‘imprudent’ of her to share what conditions it would take for Trump to lower the 104 percent tariff.
Leavitt confirmed, however, that the president was open to making deals after the tariffs go into effect.
‘Moving forward the president will talk to any country that picks up the phone to call and I can tell you the phones have been ringing off the hook wanting to talk to this administration, this president and his trade team to try and strike a deal,’ Leavitt said.
‘And it’s because the world knows that they need the United States of America, they need our markets, they need our consumer, the president has a lot of leverage on his side because he has the best economy and the best country in the world that he leads,’ she continued. ‘And he knows that.’
‘And it’s about dang time we have a president who uses that economic leverage to benefit American workers and that is what the president is trying to do,’ the press secretary added.
During an executive order signing Tuesday afternoon, Trump said both South Korean and Japanese officials were flying to the U.S. to make a deal.
Both strong allies of the U.S., Trump placed a 24 percent tariff on Japanese imports and a 25 percent tariff on items from South Korea.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is expected at the White House on April 17.
Her country is being hit with the 20 percent European Union tariffs.
Trump met yesterday with his first world leader post-Liberation Day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, yet a 17 percent tariff on Israeli imports is going into effect.
With the tariffs in place, a lot of items are about to become more expensive.
Groceries
Bananas from Guatemala and Costa Rica are both being hit with a 10 percent import tax
Trump won the election in November over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris by persuading Americans he would be better on the economy.
He hammered President Joe Biden and later Harris on COVID-19 pandemic inflation that drove up food prices.
But the Food and Drug Administration estimates that about 15 percent of the U.S.’s food supply is imported, including 32 percent of fresh vegetables, 55 percent of fresh fruit and 94 percent of seafood Americans consume annually.
Bananas are brought in from Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are both being hit with a 10 percent import tax. Guatemala also exports melons, plantains and papayas into the U.S., while Costa Rica exports pineapples, avocados and mangoes.
Among the top sources of seafood, Chile will be hit with a 10 percent tariff, India with a 26 percent tariff, Indonesia a 32 percent tariff and Vietnam, one of the highest at 46 percent.
About 80 percent of coffee comes from Latin America, with 35 percent of it from Brazil and 27 percent from Colombia, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Both Brazil and Colombia will be hit with 10 percent tariffs.
Chocolate will get pricier as cocoa beans being imported into the U.S. from Cote d’Ivoire and Ecuador will be hit with 21 percent and 10 percent tariffs respectively.
Already produced chocolates from Switzerland will be hit with a 31 percent tariff – higher than the European Union’s 20 percent and the U.K.’s 10 percent tariff rate.
Imported cheese will be impacted by the tariffs including this Spanish Manchego. European Union countries will be hit with 20 percent tariffs
Millennials will be happy to hear that avocados from Mexico aren’t currently being hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs
Cheese will be impacted as top imports are from Italy, France, Spain and the Netherlands, all E.U. countries and thus susceptible to the 20 percent rate.
Food industry analyst Phil Lempert estimated to NPR that 40,000 grocery products will be impacted by Trump’s tariffs, ‘whether it’s the entire product or just an ingredient.’
One lucky break – while Canada and Mexico were hit with 25 percent tariffs over Trump’s fentanyl emergency order, items involved in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed in 2020 were carved out.
That includes avocados from Mexico – which should make millennials happy.
Alcohol
Bottles of French wine will now be hit with a 20 percent tariff due to being part of the European Union. Trump had originally threatened European wines with a 200 percent tariff
Trump had previously threatened a 200 percent tariff on European wine.
That didn’t happen but the tariffs going into effect will make alcohol pricier.
Major beer, wine and liquor brands sold in the U.S. are imported from overseas. ‘
Some of the most popular wine sold in the United States comes from the European Union – France, Italy and Spain – and will be hit with a 20 percent tariff.
Argentinian, Australian and New Zealand wines will come with a 10 percent tariff.
Corona from Mexico has already been impacted by a 25 percent tariff, while Guinness from Ireland and Heineken from the Netherlands will now be hit with the 20 percent European Union tariff.
Scotch whiskey will be hit with a 10 percent U.K. tariff.
Even American breweries anticipate being impacted by the Trump tariffs due to the aluminum being used to make cans coming from China.
Clothing and shoes
Clothing costs will be majorly impacted by the Trump tariffs with several retailers set to be part of a hike. A number of U.S. companies had moved production away from China, but set up shop in these heavily tariffed Asian countries instead
Clothing costs will be majorly impacted by the Trump tariffs.
The American Apparel & Footwear Association told the Associated Press that about 97 percent of the clothes and shoes purchased in the United States are imported – predominantly from Asia.
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America additionally told the AP that 99 percent of shoes in the U.S. are imported.
The group warned that the U.S. does not have domestic sources for more than 70 materials that go into making a shoe. ‘These materials simply do not exist here, and many of these materials have never existed in the U.S,’ the organization told the AP.
Products coming in from China will see the biggest hikes, as Trump said Tuesday that China will not be hit with 104 percent tariffs.
But other Asian nations also got hit with high rates, including Vietnam with 46 percent, Cambodia with 49 percent, Bangladesh with 37 percent and Indonesia with 32 percent.
A number of U.S. companies had moved production away from China, but set up shop in these heavily tariffed Asian countries instead.
Lululemon, for example, said that 40 percent of its sportswear last year was manufactured in Vietnam, 17 percent in Cambodia, 11 percent in Sri Lanka – which got hit with a 44 percent rate – 11 percent in Indonesia and 7 percent in Bangladesh, according to the AP.
Electronics and household items
Most of Apple’s assembly lines for iPhones (pictured) and other products still remain in China, which is about to be hit with a 104 percent Trump tariff
Electronics are expected to get hit especially hard due to how many companies’ supply lines are still in China.
Apple products are almost exclusively made in China.
Even Android products are going to be hit – as most phones are made in China, South Korea, Vietnam and India.
South Korea is getting hit with a 25 percent tariff, Vietnam a 46 percent tariff and India a 26 percent tariff.
Nintendo products are manufactured in China and Vietnam.
Many household electronic devices – like Crockpots and pressure cookers – are also made in China.
Wired did the math on what a laptop manufactured would cost once Trump’s 104 percent China tariffs are factored in.
That laptop, which previously would have cost the American importer $395 jumps to $795 and if they pass the costs onto the consumer, the laptop would now cost $966 – a 69 percent hike.
