In his “Liberation Day” speech, US President Donald J. Trump announced tariffs that would be applied to several countries, including important friends like Israel. These are the new tariffs that have been put in place on the top textile and apparel (T&A) exporting countries, given in alphabetical order:
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Bangladesh: 37%
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Cambodia: 49%
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China: 34%
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Dominican Republic: 10%
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European Union: 20%
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Honduras: 10%
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India: 26%
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Indonesia: 32%
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Pakistan: 29%
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Sri Lanka: 44%
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Türkiye: 10%
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Vietnam: 46%
Goods from India will have to pay a 26% tax when they come into the US starting April 9. Goods from the EU and Turkey will have to pay 20% and 10% tariffs, respectively. This makes goods from these areas more competitive on the US market than goods from China, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam, which have tax rates of 34%, 37%, 49%, and 46%, respectively.
When asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the US, President Trump said, “He is a good friend, but I told him, ‘As a friend, you haven’t treated us fairly.'” India charges us a 52% rate, so we will charge them 26% in return.
Trump stated that these new tariffs, which he labeled as “reciprocal,” are fair and could have been set even higher. The US Reciprocal Tariffs aim to address these disparities.
A White House Fact Sheet explains that the tariffs are meant to fix the unfair aspects of international trade, lower our ongoing goods trade deficit, boost domestic production, and give our trading partners a chance to change how they do business with the US.
The US constituted 17.4% of the world’s industrial output in 2023, down from 28.4% in 2001.
Approximately 5 million industrial jobs have been lost in the US from 1997 to 2024. This is one of the largest declines in manufacturing employment in history.
The Fact Sheet noted that due to the decreases in industrial output and jobs, President Trump is focused on making the situation fairer for American workers and businesses by addressing the unfair tariff imbalances and non-tariff barriers imposed by other countries. Overall, the US Reciprocal Tariffs are a strategic move to help restore balance in trade relationships.
