US President, Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on all imports from many countries has come into effect.
US customs agents began collecting the unilateral tariff at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12.01am ET (04:01 GMT), today, Saturday, April 5, 2025.
Among the countries first hit with the “baseline” tariff are Australia, Britain, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
A US Customs and Border Protection bulletin to shippers indicates no grace period for cargoes on the water at midnight on Saturday.
It did provide a 51-day grace period for cargoes loaded onto vessels or planes and in transit to the US before 12:01am ET on Saturday.
However, they will need to arrive by 12:01am ET (4:01am GMT) on May 27, 2025, to avoid the 10 percent duty.
Higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners due to start next week.
On April 9, 2025, Trump’s higher “reciprocal” tariff rates of 11 percent to 50% are due to take effect.
European Union imports will be hit with a 20% tariff, while Chinese goods will be hit with a 34% tariff, bringing Trump’s total new levies on China to 54%.
Vietnam, which benefitted from the shift of US supply chains away from China after Trump’s first-term trade war with Beijing, will be hit with a 46% tariff.
The country, however, agreed on Friday to discuss a deal with Trump.
Canada and Mexico were exempt from Trump’s latest duties because they are still subject to a 25% tariff related to the US fentanyl crisis for goods that do not comply with the US-Mexico-Canada rules of origin.
Trump’s announcement of the tariffs shook global stock markets to their core, wiping out $5tn in stock market value for S&P 500 companies by Friday’s close, a record two-day decline.
The prices of oil and commodities plunged, as investors fled to the safety of government bonds.
Trump’s move also prompted retaliation from China, which on Friday announced extra 34% levies on all US goods and export curbs on some rare earths which it dominates, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, potentially cutting the US off from critical minerals vital to everything from smartphones to electric car batteries and defence.
At least 16 US entities were also added to its export control list, which bans the export of dual-use items to affected firms.
Alongside its announcement of retaliatory tariffs on the US, China has initiated a formal complaint against the new US tariffs with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In its dispute, the Chinese government argued that Trump’s latest move violated WTO rules, and requested consultations.
After US markets plummeted following China’s announcement of a reciprocal 34 percent tariff on the US, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Guo Jiakun stated, “the market has spoken.”
He wrote in English in a post on Facebook with a picture capturing the fall of the US markets, “Now is the time for the US to stop doing the wrong things and resolve the differences with trading partners through equal-footed consultation.”
Trump’s 10% Tariff To Favour Turkish Exporters
Meanwhile, Turkish Vice President, Cevdet Yilmaz noted that the 10% US tariff applied to Turkey could favour Turkish exporters.
In an interview, the Turkish Vice President pointed to the higher levies on goods from large partners including China, the European Union, Japan and Vietnam that are due to kick in next week.
He stated that the decision not to impose such levies on Turkey “seems to be to our advantage as of now, for access to the American market.”
“There were already tariffs on iron, steel and aluminium [exports from Turkiye to the US]. When [the US] imposed similar tariffs on the others, there was an equalisation there, it was in our favour.”
Cevdet Yilmaz
Yilmaz said that as an importer, Turkey would also benefit from a fall in international commodity prices, including oil, following Trump’s announcement.
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