US President Donald Trump has imposed a 10 percent “minimum baseline tariff” on all imports into the country with many nations, including Nigeria, facing even higher rates.
He announced the long anticipated raft of tariffs on Wednesday, a day he termed “Liberation Day”, stating that the policy will erase trade imbalances between the US and other nations.
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President Trump introduced two types of tariff. The first tariff imposes a 10 per cent flat tax on every import entering the US.
The second set is the reciprocal tariffs, which specifically target imports from 60 nations.
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Several African countries are affected by the reciprocal tariff, with Nigeria facing a 14 percent import duty, the second highest among West African countries after Cote d’ Ivoire which faces 24 per cent.
Both Ghana and Ethiopia also face a 10 per cent baseline tariff.
On the continent, the most affected countries are Lesotho with 50 per cent, Madagascar with 47 percent, and Botswana with 37 per cent.
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This new policy threatens the trade of Nigerian goods in the US, particularly crude oil, which is Nigeria’s major export.
Nigeria’s primary exports to the US consist of crude oil, petroleum gas, and nitrogen-based fertilizers, while the US predominantly ships cars, refined oil products, and wheat to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the US recently began importing jet fuel from the Dangote Refinery, with six vessels carrying 1.7 million barrels arriving this month.
President Trump said the reciprocal tariff was designed to stop the US economy from being “cheated” and equalise the trade balance.
“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said.
“ Foreign leaders have stolen our jobs. Foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories. And foreign scavengers have torn apart our once-beautiful American dream.”
China with highest tariff
President Trump’s reciprocal tariff ends decades of US trade policy and has made it possible to unleash a global trade war.
The US president, through this announcement, has rattled global trade and could trigger a global recession.
China, the top US economic rival and chief target of Mr Trump’s first-term trade war, is again in his crosshairs.
The country was initially charged a 34 per cent reciprocal tariff rate, stacked on top of 20 percent duties Mr Trump already imposed this year, tied to fentanyl trafficking.
That means many Chinese imports face tariffs well above 50 per cent.
President Trump also plans to end duty-free shipping of small parcels from China under the “so-called de minimis exemption.”
However, China, in response to being hit by the world’s biggest tariff rate, stated that the US government’s move undermines the balance of interests established through years of multilateral trade negotiations.
“China firmly opposes this and will take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests,” the ministry said.
The European Union, which has begun preparing emergency measures to shield its economy from Mr Trump’s tariffs, is subject to a 20 per cent levy.
However, the new tariff does not include Canada and Mexico yet.
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