For most products, a surcharge of 15 percent applies to the EU – this is less than threatened by Trump, but a multiple of the long -lasting customs duties. For cars, a customs reduction from 27.5 to 15 percent was also fundamentally agreed, but the US Ministry of Trade has not yet given an appointment for entry into force.
Trump had sparked a customs conflict with trading partners all over the world at the beginning of April. He announced high imports for numerous countries, but then lowered them to ten percent for a while to lead negotiations. This negotiation time now expired for now – but many questions remain unanswered. A number of countries also hope to continue to achieve improvements.
DIHK general manager Helena Melnikov also considered the lack of details to be problematic for the German economy. “This ambiguity is poison for planning security and competitiveness,” she said. Many companies in Germany would be “under growing pressure” because “higher costs, increasing uncertainty and lack of relief” were massively added.
Japan and South Korea have achieved similar agreements with Trump. For other trading partners who have not concluded a trade agreement with the United States, much higher tariffs apply. Imports from Syria, for example, are occupied with 41 percent, Laos and Myanmar with 40 percent each.
Trump used a massive surcharge of 39 percent on goods from Switzerland. Federal President Karin Keller -Sutter traveled to the United States for an agreement at the last minute this week – apparently without success. The government announced in online service X that it would hold an extraordinary meeting on the tariffs on Thursday.
Other countries hit it even harder: Shortly before the new surcharges were valid, Trump doubled the tariffs for India to 50 percent, the higher sentence comes into force in three weeks. In this case, Trump does not justify the renewed surcharge of 25 percent with an unbalanced trade balance or the desire for a shift in production to the USA. Instead, these are so -called secondary sanctions in connection with the Russian attack war. The White House justified the new customs load for Indian imports on Wednesday with the continuing purchases of Russian oil through India.
With the penalty, the United States wants to reduce the Russian oil revenue that contribute to the financing of the war of aggression on Ukraine. The government in Neu Delhi condemned the step as “unfair, unjustified and inappropriate”.
China, Brazil and EU countries such as Hungary or Austria continue to trade with Russia. Trump had originally threatened such countries with tariffs of “around 100 percent” if Russia did not end its attacks on Ukraine until this Friday.
At 50 percent, the tariffs against Brazil are already among the highest punitive tariffs that Trump has previously imposed. A number of goods are excluded from the surcharges, including orange juice, paranese and civil aircraft.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks of “extortion”, because Trump wants to influence a decision by the Supreme Court in Brazil. The indictment accuses the Trump friend and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro an attempted coup after his deselection in 2022. The South American country now switched on the world trade organization (WTO) in the customs dispute, as said from government circles.
Of course, only one thing is: Trump is far from finished with his customs policy. On Wednesday, he brought up 100 percent for imports of computer chips and semiconductors to the USA. Companies that invested in the United States or committed themselves to this are exempt from this. The Republican did not say when these should be due.
