The hype surrounding US President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day looked more or less like anxious kids rushing to school to find out result of board exams. At least here at the end of the day there is a mix of celebration and disappointment. In the case of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, there is nothing but a sense of anguish, if not outright anger, including from Americans from all walks of life who are convinced that it would hit their pockets.
Tariffs against all is what Trump has repeatedly been promising since the campaign times of 2024 insisting on several occasions that the US is being “ripped off” and choosing to remaining silent for one reason or another.
But few in the comity of nations believed that Trump would not go through with his Liberation Day or reciprocal tariffs on allies, adversaries and friends, including the so-called ones. The small comfort is that the already imposed tariffs on steel, aluminium and autos would apparently be not subjected to additional reciprocal rates.
“It’s our declaration of economic independence. Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country, and you see it happening already,” Trump said. The universal 10 per cent rate declared under the banner of national economic emergency goes into effect on April 5 and the customised rates some four days later, the hint being for those in that above 10 per cent to start negotiations.
Impact on India
India has been slapped with 26 per cent and Asian countries like China, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and Cambodia are in a higher bracket. And it is 20 per cent for the European Union.
The worst hit would be China as its total tariff rate would be 54 per cent, if the 20 per cent of the already imposed rate is factored in. The US imported $440 billion worth of goods from China in 2024. And for a President primarily focused on tariffs, the larger ramifications on the political and strategic fronts seemed secondary.
Allies of Washington in Europe and Asia are expected to come up with their own retaliations and in various sectors. China, Japan and South Korea will reciprocate with varying degrees of intensity and Beijing has already indicated its next course of action will be determined and tough. Slamming Trump’s efforts to re-shape the rules of international trade as “typical unilateral bullying practice”, China’s Commerce Ministry has said that the country will “resolutely take counter-measures to safeguard its own rights and interests”.
At different times Trump has maintained that his tariffs will bring in so much money that eventually it could even replace income tax as a source of revenue. But not many are convinced of this, some even going to the extent of saying that the current tariffs rates, seen not since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, will trigger not only an international trade war but also plunge America again into a Great Depression.
Dissenting voices
“The only thing these tariffs will ‘liberate’ is money from Americans’ wallets” said trade specialists Scott Lincicome and Colin Grabow of the Cato Institute. The US and Asian stock markets have already started tumbling and feeling the heat even hours before the auto tariffs kicked in. And if media reports are anything to go by, ordinary American consumers are gearing for higher prices on every conceivable product, from automobiles, groceries to garments and sneakers.
In all the angst in the international system on Trump’s latest swing there is also a word of warning to countries not to do anything rash as that would “unwise” from a senior administration official.
“Sit back, take a deep breath, don’t immediately retaliate. Let’s see where this goes, because if you retaliate, that’s how we get escalation”, said Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent.
The writer is a senior journalist who has reported from Washington DC on North America and United Nations