On Wednesday, President Donald Trump postponed "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries for 90 days, just hours after the U.S. began collecting duties.
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The U.S. began collecting "reciprocal" tariffs on imports from 86 different countries on Wednesday as President Donald Trump continues to escalate an ongoing trade war with the rest of the world.
The most notable of the tariffs is a 104% duty being imposed on goods being imported from China. Previously, President Trump had set a 20% tariff on goods from China.
In response, China announced it is increasing tariffs it imposes on goods from the U.S. from 34% to 84%.
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"China will continue to take resolute and strong measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests," said China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian.
President Trump has sought to lower the trade deficit that the U.S. has with China and other nations through tariffs. In 2023, the United States imported $436 billion in goods from China while sending $154 billion to China.
China is the third-largest importer of U.S. goods, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. China is also the second-largest exporter of goods to the U.S., slightly behind Mexico.
The White House has claimed that the trade imbalance has led to a loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs.
"China’s non-market policies and practices have given China global dominance in key manufacturing industries, decimating U.S. industry," the White House said. "Between 2001 and 2018, these practices contributed to the loss of 3.7 million U.S. jobs due to the growth of the U.S.-China trade deficit, displacing workers and undermining American competitiveness while threatening U.S. economic and national security by increasing our reliance on foreign-controlled supply chains for critical industries as well as everyday goods."
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Investors have not reacted positively to President Trump's tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost about 10% of its value in the last week, since President Trump announced he was enacting a broad set of tariffs.
It is not just U.S. consumers expected to feel the brunt of tariffs; other nations are bracing for the impact on their respective economies as well.
"The relationship between Canada and the U.S. will never be the same," said Mélanie Joly, Canada's minister of foreign affairs. "The trust was affected by what happened. This trade war was launched out of nowhere against your best ally, friend and neighbor, and we want to make sure that we can be constructive, but we're not naive neither. We know we know we have to protect our own jobs and our own economy."
European union raises tariffs
Although the United States did not impose any additional tariffs on Wednesday on goods from the European Union, the bloc of nations responded to previously imposed duties by imposing countermeasures against the U.S. The new tariffs are in response to President Trump imposing a 25% steel and aluminum tariff in February.
The European Union plans to enact 25% tariffs on over $28 billion in goods from the U.S.
"The trade relations between the European Union and the US are the biggest in the world. They have brought prosperity and security to millions of people, and trade has created millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic," President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said. "Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up."
She added that the European Union must act to protect its economic interests.
