New U.S. Tariffs Tower Over Other Nations 📈

Key Takeaways

• President Trump imposed a new wave of tariffs that included a 34% blanket tariff on China and a 20% levy on imports from the European Union.
• Previously, the U.S. trade weighted average tariff rate was 2.2% in 2023 for virtually all 170 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• For perspective, China's trade weighted average stood at 3.0% based on data from the WTO.

A New Era in U.S. Trade Policy

On April 2, president Trump announced steep tariffs on a number of nations such as a 24% tariff on Japan and a 26% levy on India.

These come along with a 10% baseline tariff for all countries, set to come into effect on April 9th.

In comparison, many of the world's largest economies have average tariff rates that stand below 5%.

India and South Korea are notable exceptions, with trade weighted average tariff rates of 12% and 8.4%, respectively.