📰 THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Trade War Begins – The New York Times

20 hours ago
0 4 minutes read

Yesterday, President Trump held up a chart at the White House Rose Garden. He laughed that not everyone in the audience could read it because the font was so small. But the content was anything but small. It detailed the tariffs he will impose on China, the European Union, Japan, India and dozens of others. That chart started a trade war against the rest of the world.

The levies will total 10, 20 and even 50 percent, depending on the country. “Many people had been expecting the president to announce high tariffs today, but the numbers that he just revealed are stunning,” my colleague Ana Swanson said.

In Trump’s telling, the tariffs are necessary to counter trade barriers that other countries have placed on America. To some extent, he has a point: Other nations do have higher tariffs than the United States does. But Trump exaggerates how big the gap is, as Ana explained. And these tariffs will not simply hurt other countries; they will also hurt the U.S. economy. Experts say the levies will result in higher prices and lower economic growth — and potentially even a recession.

Today’s newsletter looks at Trump’s new tariffs and what may come next, with help from reporting by my colleagues.

The tariffs make little distinction between allies and adversaries. The administration claims they are based on other countries’ trade barriers against the United States. In reality, the levies are based on how much more another country exports to America than imports from it, Tony Romm, Ana and Lazaro Gamio wrote. The difference between exports and imports doesn’t necessarily reflect trade barriers; Americans may simply want to buy more stuff from, say, Japan than the Japanese want to buy from the United States.

This chart shows the levies on some of America’s biggest trading partners. (The new fees exclude Canada and Mexico, which already face separate tariffs.)

Practically speaking, the chart shows that Americans will now pay more for goods from other countries. If companies pass the tariffs on to consumers — and they almost always do — a $20 pack of beer from Germany will cost $24. A $100 bike from China will cost around $130. A $400 video game console from Japan will cost nearly $500.

The levies are in addition to past tolls, such as those Trump placed on China. They exempt some goods, including some forms of energy, pharmaceuticals and things that Trump had already tariffed, particularly cars, steel and aluminum. Overall, though, they amount to a huge tax on some of America’s biggest trading partners.

Following Trump’s announcement, China and Europe vowed to retaliate and the global economy showed signs of distress.

China’s government said it would take countermeasures to “safeguard its own rights and interests.” Its options could include more tariffs, restrictions on U.S. investment in China or export controls on rare earth minerals.

In Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, held a news conference just after 5 a.m. and said the bloc was ready to respond. “If you take on one of us, you take on all of us,” she said.

Markets in Asia and Europe dropped. The U.S. market is also expecting a rough day. One analyst told The Times that the tariffs were “shockingly high” and “a disaster.”

In the coming days, other countries will probably retaliate with their own tariffs and other trade barriers. The European Union has even discussed limiting American banks’ access to certain E.U. markets, Bernhard Warner reported. Those steps could be catastrophic for the U.S. economy.

One question remains: Is Trump committed to a trade war? He said he would withdraw his tariffs if other countries rescinded their own trade barriers. Perhaps minor concessions would suffice; Trump suspended his penalties against Canada and Mexico after they promised to make nominal changes. A month later, he tried again but largely reversed himself after the market panicked. Perhaps that story will repeat itself.

  • Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said the tariffs were “a measure that I consider wrong.”

  • Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said he and his ministers would respond with “cool and calm heads.” (Not even a royal invite spared Britain from tariffs.)

  • European officials said they’re willing to place limits on U.S. tech companies’ access to markets in response.

  • Japan’s prime minister called the tariffs “extremely regrettable.” Japan is the largest overseas investor in the United States.

  • Taiwan’s government condemned the tariffs as unreasonable.

  • Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, who describes himself as a radical libertarian, described the 10 percent minimum tariff as a positive. “Friends will be friends,” he posted.

  • A 25 percent tariff on cars assembled outside the U.S., which Trump announced last week, took effect today.

  • Laptop computers from Taiwan, wine from Italy, frozen shrimp from India, Nike sneakers from Vietnam and Irish butter. Read what else could be affected.

  • The liberal candidate in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race benefited from large Democratic turnout as counties swung left across the state.

  • Before the election, a right-wing group rallied for voters’ attention with unauthorized photos of Emily Ratajkowski and a shirtless man.

  • Elon Musk made himself the face of the humiliating political defeat in Wisconsin. That could be useful for Trump.

  • The administration laid off the entire staff of a program that helps millions of low-income Americans to pay their utility bills.

  • Extensive layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the world’s premier public health agency, could hurt America’s health, critics say.

  • The environmental costs to the war in Ukraine have been significant: Toxins are seeping into the earth and water, and habitats are disappearing. Experts call it ecocide.

  • The most polluting coal plant in the U.S. has requested an exemption from stricter air pollution rules.

  • Hungary said it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court. The announcement came hours after Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the country for a visit despite facing an international arrest warrant.

  • Three U.S. citizens sentenced to death over a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo have had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

  • The U.N. accused Israel of killing 15 humanitarian workers in Gaza. Officials in Gaza recovered the bodies and said some were reportedly shot multiple times before being buried in a mass grave.

Trump’s tariffs on Mexican goods will fuel the black market at the border. That could help gangs expand their power, Ted Genoways writes.

Pamela Paul says goodbye with her final column for The Times.

Martha Argerich is among the world’s most astonishing pianists — and one of classical music’s most enigmatic and eccentric artists. At 83, Argerich is defying the expectations of age: Her fingers remain capable of acrobatic feats, and she can still find new dimensions in pieces she has played hundreds of times. See a video of Argerich at the peak of her powers.


Source link

20 hours ago
0 4 minutes read
Back to top button