Yesterday, President Donald Trump declared a 10% baseline tax on imports from 185 countries, and that he condemned the tariff system with a 14% tariff rate for dozens of others, including Nigeria.
Additionally, Trump raised the charts while speaking at the White House, indicating that the US will charge 34% tax on imports from China, 20% tax on imports from the European Union, 25% in South Korea, 24% in Japan and 32% in Taiwan.
Apart from Nigeria, some African countries bearing the brunt of new policies include Algeria (30%). Lesotho (50%); Mauritius (40%); Kenya (10%); Namibia (21%), Ethiopia and Ghana were 10% each. South Africa has been handed over a 30% mutual tariff.
The president used aggressive rhetoric to describe the global trading system that the United States supported building after World War II, saying that “our country was plundered, plundered, raped and looted” by other countries.
Trump has declared a national economic emergency to launch tariffs that are expected to generate hundreds of billions of people in annual revenue. He promised that factory work would return to the US as a result of taxes.
The checks on the day showed that Nigeria’s exports to the US have been experiencing fluctuations in recent years. In 2022, exports were valued at around $4.9 billion, marking an increase from around $3.6 billion in 2021.
However, in 2023, exports fell to $4.86 billion. The major dominant exports from Nigeria to the US include crude oil and natural gas. Small amounts include cocoa and cocoa products, sesame seeds, inger and spices, solid minerals and metals, manufacturing and semi-processed products.
Nigeria also benefits from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants tax-free access to certain exports to the US market. However, crude oil remains the dominant export.
But Trump’s policies risk a sudden economic slowdown as consumers and businesses could face sharp rises in prices for cars, clothing and other products, the Associated Press report added.
“Taxpayers have been fooled for over 50 years,” Trump said in a statement at the White House. “But it’s not going to happen anymore,” he added.
Trump had fulfilled his important campaign promise as he imposed what he called “mutual” tariffs on his trading partners, acted without Congress through the International Emergency Rights Act of 1977, and acted through extraordinary attempts to destroy and ultimately rebuild American trade relations with the world.
The higher fees of the president will clash with foreign companies selling more items to the United States than they would buy. That is, tariffs could be there for some time, as the administration expects to lower other countries and other trade barriers that it says have led to a $1.2 trillion trade imbalance last year.
The duties follow a similar recent announcement of a 25% tax on automobile imports. Taxation on China, Canada and Mexico. He expanded trade penalties for steel and aluminum. Trump has also imposed tariffs on countries that import oil from Venezuela, and plans separate import taxes on drugs, wood, copper and computer chips.
Despite the risk of political backlash, warning signs about stock market declines and consumer sentiment did not publicly speculate on its strategy despite the administration’s risk of political backlash, as voters said they wanted to fight inflation in last year’s election.
A senior administration official who advocated anonymity to preview the new tariffs with reporters ahead of Trump’s speech, said taxes would make annual revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. They said there was a 10% baseline rate to ensure compliance, but the higher rate was based on a trade deficit with other countries, and was halved to reach the number Trump presented at Rose Garden.
In a series of questions by the Associated Press, the White House is unable to say whether a customs duties exemption is in place for imports under $800, and could possibly protect imports from new taxes.
Based on the broader tariff potential that has been raised by some White House aides, most external analyses by banks and think tanks look at an economy that has been altered due to rising prices and stagnation of growth.
Trump will apply these tariffs on his own. He has a way of doing so without Congressional approval. This makes it easier for democratic lawmakers and policymakers to criticize the administration when the uncertainty and reduced consumer sentiment expressed by businesses are indications of coming.
Heather Boohee, a member of the Biden White House Economic Advisors Council, noted that the non-offensive tariffs Trump imposed during his first term failed to stir up the manufacturing renaissance he promised to voters.
“There are no signs of a boom the president has promised,” Boosy said. “It’s a failed strategy,” Bouchy added.
Rep. Suzan Delbene, D-Wash. said tariffs are “part of confusion and dysfunction” throughout the Trump administration. The chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee stressed that Trump should not have the sole authority to raise taxes without lawmakers’ approval, saying Republicans have been “blindly loyal” so far.
“The president should not be able to do that,” Delvene said. “This is a massive tax hike on American families, and it’s no vote in Congress… President Trump has promised to cut costs on the first day on the campaign trail.
Even Republicans who trust Trump’s instincts have acknowledged that tariffs could destroy the economy with an unemployment rate of 4.1%.
“We see how everything develops,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA. “It might be Rocky at first, but I think this makes sense to Americans and helps all Americans.”
Long-time trading partners have prepared their own measures. Canada is imposing some in response to a 25% tariff that Trump has led to fentanyl trafficking. The European Union has placed taxes on US goods worth 26 billion euros, including bourbon, in response to tariffs on steel and aluminum, urging Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol.
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Many allies feel they are reluctantly drawn into the Trump conflict.
The flip side is that while Americans have incomes to choose to buy designer gowns from German manufacturers in French fashion houses and cars, World Bank data shows that the EU earns less per capita than the US.
“Europe has not launched this conflict,” said European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen. “We don’t necessarily want to retaliate, but if that’s what we need, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we use it,” she said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni repeated her call on Wednesday to avoid the EU-US trade war, saying it would harm both sides and “heavy” consequences for her country’s economy.
He provided a deep sense of uncertainty to the world as Trump hyped his tariffs without providing details until Wednesday. This provided an indication that the slowdown in the economy could potentially be adjacent to other countries that blame one person beyond us.
But an angry Trump insisted: “Many times friends are worse than their enemies in terms of trade. We subsidize a lot of countries, keep them moving, keep them in business. Why are we doing this?
