The US has made it clear that its new tax measures can be added on top of existing tariffs. This means the latest taxes announced by Donald Trump can be combined with previous ones.
For example, China already has a 34% tariff and will now face an additional 20% tax. This brings the total to 54%. However, the US might exempt certain products like steel and aluminum.
The latest executive order from Trump also lists products that won’t be taxed, such as certain steel and aluminum parts, copper, medicine, semiconductors, processed wood, gold or silver, and some energy and minerals not found in the US.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries not to retaliate against Trump’s new tax measures. “I would advise countries not to retaliate,” Bessent told Fox News. “Just sit back, wait and see what happens. If you retaliate, rates will go up. But if you don’t, this could be the peak.”
Just hours earlier, Trump signed an order imposing a 10% “baseline tariff” on all goods from every country. This starts on April 5. He also announced “reciprocal tariffs” on several countries with which the US has a large trade deficit. These tariffs will be half the rate of the tariffs those countries impose on US goods and start on April 9.
Thailand is one of the countries that will face these reciprocal tariffs, with a rate of 36%.
Source: bbc