Staggering U.S. Tariffs Begin as Trump Widens Trade War
President Trump’s punishing new tariffs on about 90 countries snapped into place on Thursday, sending foreign leaders in some of the hardest-hit economies rushing to contain the damage and convince Washington to ease its escalating trade brinkmanship.
Few of America’s major trading partners were spared under the updated duties, which together sent the average effective U.S. tariff rate to its highest level in nearly a century. Despite the outcry, Mr. Trump remained ebullient as he heralded the higher rates as a lucrative political coup and his aides signaled even harsher duties could be on the horizon.
The president’s levies — which are expected to drive up prices for American consumers, and have spooked many businesses around the world — officially took effect just after midnight. They arrived one week after Mr. Trump signed a set of executive orders that raised rates and put into force the preliminary trade agreements that the administration had reached in recent days with the European Union and other countries.
The president has long maintained that these levies would help reset trade relationships that he deems unfair, raise new revenue for the U.S. government, spur more U.S. manufacturing and achieve other goals. Just before the tariffs took effect, Mr. Trump took to social media to celebrate them as a fiscal success, claiming in all caps that “billions of dollars in tariffs are now flowing into the United States of America!”
