In a move that could upend American foreign relations across the globe, President Trump announced Wednesday that he is imposing what he calls “reciprocal tariffs” on virtually every nation the U.S. engages with in trade. From April 5, all imports to the U.S. will be subject to a baseline tariff of 10%. Then, beginning April 9, about 90 countries that the Trump administration says currently impose unfair barriers on imported U.S. goods will be hit by additional “reciprocal” taxes.
Some of the Asian nations from which the U.S. has long imported vast quantities of consumer goods will be subjected to the highest tariffs, including a 34% blanket levy on imports from China, which quickly vowed to impose unspecified “countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests.”
A number of nations, including Britain, Brazil and Egypt, were hit with the lowest, base-rate 10% tariffs.
Economists have warned that across-the-board tariffs could impact lower-income Americans’ finances the most and increase the likelihood of a recession.
The response from other world leaders to Mr. Trump’s announcement has almost universally included critique — or outright condemnation — of the American leader’s overt pressure tactics, but it has also shown a recognition of the importance other countries place on trade relations with the world’s largest economy.
Below is a look at the criticism — and the desire to salvage economic relations with Washington — emanating from capital cities across the globe.
China
A White House official told CBS News that the tariffs announced Wednesday by Mr. Trump will be additive, meaning the 34% “retaliatory tariffs” will be on top of 20% levies imposed by Washington earlier this year.
“China firmly opposes this and will take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement. “There are no winners in trade wars, and there is no way out for protectionism. China urges the U.S. to immediately lift unilateral tariffs and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through dialogue on an equal footing.”
“Protectionism has no exit ramp,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Thursday, urging Washington to drop the new taxes on Chinese imports. “What the U.S. needs to do now is correct its wrong practices and resolve economic and trade differences with other countries — including China — through fair, respectful and reciprocal consultations.”
Beijing did not indicate what countermeasures it might take but in separate remarks, Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong said “the trade and economic departments of China and the United States have been maintaining communication,” and he added that Asia’s largest economy remained “willing to engage with the United States on important issues in bilateral trade.”
The European Union
Overall, the 27-nation European Union bloc is one of the United States’ biggest trade partners and, as a collective entity, has come under some of Mr. Trump’s most vociferous criticism for what he considers an unfair imbalance in economic relations.
The EU will be hit next week with a blanket 20% “reciprocal tariff” on its exports to the U.S., Mr. Trump announced Wednesday.
“I know that many of you feel let down by our oldest ally,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a video statement. While she was unequivocal in predicting that Mr. Trump’s tactics would negatively impact the entire world, she signaled that the EU would at least wait to see if a new trade deal can be reached before imposing additional retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
“President Trump’s announcement of universal tariffs on the whole world, including the EU, is a major blow to the world economy,” she said. “Uncertainty will spiral and trigger the rise of further protectionism. The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe.”
Von der Leyen said the EU was “already finalizing a first package of countermeasures in response to tariffs on steel, and we are now preparing for further countermeasures, to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail.”
The reaction to Mr. Trump’s announcement from individual EU member states was, in some cases, more pointed.
In Germany, the bloc’s biggest single largest economy and a major exporter of vehicles to the U.S., in particular, Economy Minister Robert Habeck predicted a U-turn by the American president — if the EU is able to maintain a united front and push back against the tariffs with measures of its own.
“That is what I see, that Donald Trump buckles under pressure, corrects his announcements under pressure, but the logical consequence is that he must also feel the pressure, and this pressure must now be exerted from Germany, from Europe,” Habeck said, according to the Reuters news agency.
Germany’s leader, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, called Mr. Trump’s tariffs “fundamentally wrong” and “an attack on a trade system that has created prosperity all round the world — itself an American achievement.”
“The EU has the strongest internal market in the world with 450 million consumers, which gives us the strength to hold talks with the U.S. government to avert a trade war,” he said. “We want cooperation, not confrontation, and will defend our interests. Europe will respond united, strong and proportionately to this decision.”
Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s right-wing prime minister and a Trump ally who visited him at Mar-a-Lago in January, called the 20% tariff on EU imports “wrong” and a move “that does not suit any party.”
“We will do everything we can to work a deal with the United States, aiming to prevent a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global actors,” Meloni said. “In any case, as always, we will act in the interests of Italy and its economy, even by comparing ourselves with other European partners.”
Ireland’s Prime Minister Minister Micheál Martin, in a post on social media, called the U.S. tariffs on the EU “deeply regrettable,” adding: “I strongly believe that tariffs benefit no one. My priority, and that of the government, is to protect Irish jobs and the Irish economy.”
The United Kingdom
The U.K. pulled out of the EU almost a decade ago, and while the advantages and disadvantages of that “Brexit” remain hotly debated, it will see the U.K. dodge the higher 20% tariffs imposed on its European neighbors. But even the baseline 10% levy announced by Mr. Trump on Wednesday was met with disappointment in London and with a clear desire to keep the storied “special relationship” on track.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer huddled early Thursday with the top executives from some of Britain’s biggest businesses, eager to voice his support for their enterprises and also to draw on their economic acumen as he pushes for a new trade deal with the U.S., with the hope of getting all tariffs lifted.
“Clearly, there will be an economic impact from the decisions the U.S. has taken both here and globally,” Starmer told the business leaders. “But I want to be crystal clear: We are prepared.
“Nobody wins in a trade war. That is not in our national interest, and we have a fair and balanced trade relationship with the U.S.,” Starmer argued, adding that “negotiations on an economic prosperity deal — one that strengthens our existing trading relationship [with the U.S.] — they continue, and we will fight for the best deal for Britain.”
“Today marks a new stage in our preparations,” said Starmer. “We have a range of levers at our disposal, and we will continue our work with businesses across the country to understand their assessment of these options. As I say, our intention remains to secure a deal. But nothing is off the table.”
Japan
“We had been requesting that the U.S. government review its unilateral tariff measures at various levels and we are extremely disappointed and regret that such measures have been implemented nonetheless,” Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday as his nation woke up to the news of a new 24% levy being imposed by the White House — which was taking a toll on the Nikkei stock market.
“We will continue to strongly urge the U.S. to review its measures,” Ishiba said, according to Reuters.
Japanese Trade Minister Yoji Muto, asked if Tokyo would retaliate with its own new trade barriers to U.S. imports, said the government would “need to decide what is best for Japan, and most effective, in a careful but bold and speedy manner.”
Brazil
“The Brazilian government is evaluating all possible actions to ensure reciprocity in bilateral trade, including resorting to the World Trade Organization, in defense of legitimate national interests,” the Brazilian government said in a statement Thursday, according to Reuters.
The statement came just after Brazil’s Congress approved a bill that would give President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a legal framework to respond to international tariffs, including with countermeasures such as retaliatory tariffs.
The government statement said Brazil remained open to negotiations with the U.S., and it rejected the White House’s characterization of the 10% levy as “reciprocal,” saying that assessment does not “reflect reality.”
Lula said previously that Mr. Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on America’s trading partners risked damaging the U.S. economy, and he said Brazil would lodge a formal complaint with the WTO over a separate levy on Brazilian steel exports.
“It will raise the prices of goods and could lead to [U.S.] inflation that he hasn’t yet realized,” Lula said, according to Reuters. “Protectionism doesn’t help any country in the world.”
Vietnam
Vietnam was among the nations hardest hit by Mr. Trump’s tariff salvo on Wednesday, with the U.S. leader announcing 46% tariffs on exports from the Asian manufacturing hub. Its exports to the U.S. have flourished for years under the so-called China+1 strategy, which has seen Chinese manufacturers get around existing U.S. tariffs on their country by moving some production to other, less-heavily tariffed nations in the region.
Vietnamese officials did not immediately signal any plan to impose retaliatory measures.
As the nation’s benchmark stock index appeared on course for its biggest single-day drop in four years and its currency hit an all-time low, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh declared a new task force dedicated to addressing the rapidly changing economic situation after holding a cabinet meeting early Thursday.
Cambodia
The French news agency AFP spoke Thursday with Penn Sovicheat, a spokesman for Cambodia’s commerce ministry, who blasted the Trump administration’s imposition of a 49% levy on the country’s exports as “not reasonable.”
The White House says Cambodia is among the nations, like Vietnam and Laos, that have developed their own economies by inviting Chinese investment under the China+1 strategy, enabling Chinese manufacturers to skirt existing U.S. trade barriers. According to Sovicheat, Cambodia exported about $10 billion worth of goods to the U.S. in 2024, largely clothing.
“China has turned Cambodia into the most important transshipment hub that Communist China uses to evade our tariffs,” a White House official told reporters this week.
Sovicheat acknowledged that American imports to Cambodia, which he said amounted to around $264 million worth of goods last year, were taxed at an average of 29.4%, but the White House figures Mr. Trump unveiled Wednesday claim the Asian nation has tariffs and other trade barriers in place on U.S. goods amounting to 97%.
“The 49% tariffs is not a good image for Cambodian industry or our investment attraction,” Sovicheat told AFP, adding that the government was hoping to negotiate a trade agreement with the Trump administration through existing entities such as the ASEAN trade bloc or the World Trade Organization.
Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Nimul said in remarks aired by state TV that U.S. consumers would feel the impact of Mr. Trump’s tariffs on his country before Cambodians, according to the AFP.
“The increase in tariffs means that the U.S. people who make the purchase orders of Cambodian products are the first people to be impacted, and next will be Cambodia and business people,” she was quoted as saying.
Australia
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that Mr. Trump’s 10% tariffs were “not unexpected, but let me be clear, they are totally unwarranted.”
“This is not the act of a friend,” said Albanese, who, in addition to his frustration, appeared perplexed by the fact that the White House tariffs singled out some of his country’s tiny, far-flung territories, including a group of islands that are home to lots of penguins, but no people.
Norfolk Island is an inhabited Australian territory, but only by about 2,000 people, and Albanese called it “a bit strange” that it had been singled out by the White House and hit with an even greater tariff of 29%, nearly three times higher than the Australian mainland.
The uninhabited Heard Island and McDonald Islands were subject to the same 10% levy as mainland Australia, meanwhile, despite them rarely seeing human footprints due to “the extreme isolation” and the “persistently severe weather and sea conditions” in the sub-Antarctic area.
Jordan Freiman,
Caitlin Yilek and
Alain Sherter
contributed to this report.
