From EU To India, China To Canada: How Countries Responded To Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs
Though countries like Mexico, Canada and Russia were missing from the tariff list, Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs ranging 11-49 per cent on around 60 countries.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a comprehensive tariff policy, imposing reciprocal tariffs on the imports from countries, including India.
Trump announced the reciprocal tariffs from the Rose Garden at the White House and said that these tariffs are aimed at correcting trade imbalances and bolstering American industries.
The 47th US President on April 2 announced reciprocal tariffs ranging 11-49 per cent on about 60 countries. It will come into effect from April 9.
LIBERATION DAY RECIPROCAL TARIFFS 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ODckbUWKvO
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 2, 2025
The Indian government reacted cautiously, saying it is carefully examining the implications even as Trump imposed higher import duties on Bangladesh (37 per cent), China (54 per cent), Vietnam (46 per cent) and Thailand (36 per cent).
Here's how the countries responded to the unprecedented move in the global economic order:
India
The Department of Commerce on Thursday said it is thoroughly reviewing the potential impacts of the measures and announcements made by Trump.
“The Department of Commerce is engaging with all stakeholders, including Indian industry representatives and exporters, to gather feedback on their assessment of the tariffs and analyse the situation. Keeping in view the vision of Viksit Bharat, the department is also studying potential opportunities that may arise due to this shift in US trade policy,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in an official statement.
China
China has been significantly hit by the reciprocal tariffs as the total levy on Chinese imports reached to over 50%.
China’s commerce ministry called for the US to "immediately cancel" the tariffs and warned that it "endanger global economic development" and would hurt the international supply chains.
UK
The United Kingdom, which was expecting 20 per cent tariffs, was relieved after Trump announced 10 import duties. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Trump's tariffs will "clearly" have an economic impact on the UK and globally.
He said his government still hoped to secure a deal with the US but reiterated that nothing would be "off the table" when it came to the British response to the tariffs, BBC reported.
Russia
Russia interestingly was not a part of the countries that the US imposed tariffs upon on Wednesday. Speaking on why Russia was excluded from the list, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios that the omission of Moscow was due to US sanctions already in place.
South Korea
South Korea’s Acting President Han Duck-soo vowed an “all-out” response as he instructed senior officials to urgently address the crisis during an emergency meeting of his economic and security strategy taskforce.
“As the situation is very grave with the approach of the reality of a global tariff war, the government must pour out all of its capabilities at its disposal to overcome this trade crisis,” Han said, according to The Guardian.
Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed displeasure as Washington announced 20% tariff on the country.
"Japan is a country that is making the largest amount of investment to the United States, so we wonder if it makes sense for (Washington) to apply uniform tariffs to all countries," the prime minister said.
Australia
Though Australia remained one of the few countries to get a 'better deal' than other countries, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the measure "totally unwarranted". He said the nation would not introduce its own tariffs - also known as import taxes - in return.
Canada
Though Canada has been exempted from the latest tariffs, Prime minister Mark Carney said that he would "fight these tariffs with countermeasures and build the strongest economy in the G7."
Carney said that the existing 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as on automobiles, will come into effect within hours.
New Zealand
New Zealand was also one of the countries to get 10% tariff. But Prime minister Christopher Luxon said that the tariffs and trade wars were “not the way to go”.
"There’s about $900m worth of tariff being levelled at New Zealand exporters, and that will be passed on to US consumers sadly,” Prime Minister Luxon said.
"It ends up driving higher prices for US consumers, higher inflation, slows down growth and as a result that puts real pressure in across the world," he added.
European Union
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while responding to the 20% tariff on the European Union, called the measure a "major blow to the world economy".
"The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe," she said, adding groceries, transport and medicine will cost more.
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