The latest tariff cycle of the Donald Trump administration creates a new labyrinth of rules for merchants and countries.
Here are some striking and unexpected results from the United States jump to protectionism.
Asian countries take a double blow
On Wednesday, many of the highest rate rates announced by Trump apply to Asian countries, Cambodia being confronted at 49%prices, in Vietnam 46%, in Thailand 37%, with Taiwan 32%and at 32%Indonesia, for example, for example the 20%coverage of US imports.
Composing the misery of these nations, the vast majority of exports from the region to the United States will not be covered by the limited list of exempt goods announced Wednesday by the White House.
Even if these exemptions – which include pharmaceutical products, semiconductors, wood and certain minerals – prove temporary, they send a clear message to Asian countries that their basic exports to the United States are precocious potential victims of a new trade war.
The flat rate of the EU
The lump sum rate of 20% applied to the whole EU has created a curious scheme of winners and losers, according to the individual trade of each Member State with the United States.
In 2024, the United States indicated that its largest trade surplus of goods was with the Netherlands ($ 55 billion), which received the same rate rate as Ireland-with which the United States has led a deficit of goods of $ 87 billion over the same period.
Nations like France, Spain and Belgium, with which the United States manages surpluses or small deficits, can grow at the coverage rate, but 15 countries of the block would have received a higher price if the rules had been applied to the level of individual members.
Even that only tells half of the story, because temporary exemptions on various products create a wide range of effective rates for EU nations.
The emphasis put by Ireland on pharmaceutical products, which have been temporarily exempt from prices, will maintain its rate rate below 5% for the moment.
For Slovakia, however, additional prices such as those that Trump has introduced cars and car parts mean that its heavy manufacturing economy is faced with an effective rate much higher than the title of 20%.
Friendly fire – American trade surpluses also attract prices
Although Trump’s prices aim to target the countries with which the United States has large trade deficits, the minimum world rate of 10% mainly strikes the countries with which it has trade surpluses.
According to its own commercial figures, the United States has a trade deficit with only 14 of the 122 countries received the rate of 10%.
The United Arab Emirates, with which the United States has an excess of $ 19.5 billion, Australia, with $ 17.9 billion, and the United Kingdom, with $ 11.9 billion, are the most strongly affected by “friendly fire” among this cohort, compared to their trade sales.
Annual commercial models may not repeat each year
The so -called “reciprocal” element of the prices was calculated using commercial data from 2024. But import and export trends are constantly moving, leaving a series of countries confronted with a pricing punishment after a good year – and vice versa.
In 2024, the United States reported a deficit with 15 countries with which it had a surplus the previous year. Conversely, the United States has reported a trade surplus with 18 nations which ran a deficit the previous year, leaving Kenya, for example, with only the basic line of 10%.
For some countries, 2024 is largely devoted to longer -term trends. Namibia obtained a tariff rate of 21% after registering its highest surplus in more than a decade in 2024, despite a deficit in three of the previous four years.
And save a thought for the 5,819 inhabitants of St Pierre and Miquelon, which should briefly be struck by a price of 50%, according to the first figures published by the White House. This rate was based on a very unusual 2024 for the semi-autonomous territory abroad abroad, which obtained a trade surplus by returning a single part of aircraft of $ 3.4 million to the United States.
This high rate rate had however disappeared when the White House published its official decree.